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Max Verstappen stated that championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli has nothing to worry about regarding a potential late resurgence from the Dutchman in the 2026 title fight, praising the Mercedes driver after his Spanish Grand Prix victory.
Antonelli showcased an impressive and controlled drive to win at the brand-new "Madring" circuit, which hosted the first Spanish Grand Prix in the capital since 1981. Capitalizing on a slow pit stop for pole-sitter Lando Norris, Antonelli then comfortably pulled away from Verstappen and the McLaren driver in the latter stages of the race.
The twenty-year-old Italian, the youngest championship leader in Formula 1 history, now holds an 81-point lead over his Mercedes teammate George Russell, who finished fifth at "Madring." Meanwhile, Antonelli's closest rival outside of Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, retired on lap seven and now trails the Italian by 99 points in the standings.
Asked if he had any advice for Antonelli on managing emotions, or if he would avoid doing so in hopes of a late comeback, Verstappen replied with a smile: "I'm definitely not making a comeback!"
Clearly impressed by Antonelli, whose Madrid victory was his eighth of the season, Verstappen continued: "Kimi just needs to keep doing what he's doing. I mean, it's fantastic. It's working really well. He shouldn't stress too much, which I don't think he does."
"He's just delivering results. He's confident. He's gaining more and more experience. He's still young, it's still very early in his career, but he's doing well and things are just clicking. So he shouldn't complicate things. He's not doing that. He has very good people around him who know what he needs, so everything is working well."
Slightly more reluctant to offer Antonelli advice was McLaren driver Norris, who stated that the young Mercedes racer didn't need any given the "frighteningly good job" he's doing in 2026.
Norris said: "Max put it well. He's 80 points ahead because he's doing an incredible job. You know, he's beating a much more experienced teammate, and a good teammate at that. So I don't want to give him any advice because he's doing a frighteningly good job."
"He just turned 20, so, yeah, pretty phenomenal. I think it's great to see someone so young doing such an incredible job and, more than likely, going on to win the championship. He's not driving like it's his second year in F1, that's for sure. It's great to see."
"There will be many, many more years where we'll be fighting, and, yeah, I'm excited for more battles, hopefully, this year, and I'm excited for all of us to race more in the future. I'm looking forward to it."
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