Antonelli steps up his level in dramatic fashion

Breaking news from the world of sport: Antonelli steps up his level in dramatic fashion Image source, Getty Images Image caption, No Italian driver has won the F1 drivers' championship since Alberto Ascari in 1952 and 1953 By Andrew Benson F1 Correspondent in Miami Published 8 minutes ago Kimi Antonelli's impressive victory in the Miami Grand Prix, his third win in a row, was "something special", says 1996 world champion Damon Hill. "We witnessed this young boy showing us what enormous potential he clearly has, and I'm almost stunned with how he has coped this season," Hill told Radio 5 Live. On top of that, Hill added, 19-year-old Antonelli is "showing up" his team-mate George Russell, who started the season as favourite, but finds himself staring at a 20-point deficit in the championship after four races.

Antonelli's win also marked another statistical milestone for the Italian. Already the youngest pole winner and the youngest driver to lead championship, he is now only the third driver in history to take his first three pole positions in a row. In that, he is in exalted company - Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher are the others.

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And he joins Hill and Mika Hakkinen as the first driver to win his first three races consecutively. All four of those drivers are world champions. Two of them are in the debate for the greatest driver who has ever lived.

It's a stretch, to say the least, to argue Antonelli is heading into that discussion just yet, but he has made quite the impression already this year. This is only Antonelli's second season in Formula 1. His first showed occasional promise, but nothing that suggested this was going to come next.

Yes, Mercedes have the best car, and yes the fates turned against Russell in various ways in both the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix, which he could easily have won. But that should take nothing away from Antonelli, who has stepped up his level this season in dramatic fashion. 'Easier to calm someone down that is wild' Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff celebrates the Miami victory with Antonelli Antonelli owes his place in F1 to Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, who picked him up as an 11-year-old, wowed by his potential in karting, and has mentored him ever since.

Reactions and Expectations

It was Wolff who took the risk of throwing Antonelli in at the deep end after just two years of racing as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton. And Wolff who took the criticism from some quarters that he was asking too much too soon. Wolff said: "When you look throughout his trajectory, in karting and in the junior formulas, he was just outstanding.

And when you think about what we said last year, it's exactly how he's performed and how he's developed now. "We had great ups and moments of brilliance and then moments where he was allowed to make mistakes. "We needed to calibrate and continue to mentor him while having pressure on him.

But he just takes it so well and he's able to analyse it but not overthink it. He compartmentalises it.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.