The Schumacher and Hamilton-like quality powering Antonelli to F1 success

Race engineer Peter Bonnington has hailed a trait of Kimi Antonelli that reminds him of seven-time Formula 1 champions Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.

Antonelli scored the first victory of his F1 career at the Chinese Grand Prix, backing up a career-first pole position. This success comes 20 years after Schumacher topped the podium for the 91st and final time at the same venue.

During his time at Mercedes, Bonnington – known as Bono – has worked with both of F1’s record-setting championship winners, and told Sky Sports that he can see a key trait from both in the young Italian.

“I read the book about the 10,000-hour rule many years ago, and I started to really strongly believe that if we all had enough practice, we’d be good enough,” said Bono.

“Then I met the likes of Michael [Schumacher], I met the likes of Lewis [Hamilton], and then you realise that no, there is the extra step, and that’s what Kimi has got. He’s got that extra tenth or two.”

Asked where this ability is visible, Bono explained: “It shows up a lot in the data, in that there’s the balance traces that we look at, where you look at it and think ‘I don’t know how he’s driving a car so neutral yet keeping it all together, keeping the temperatures under control, yet the thing is ready to pivot on it’s own axis. It’s a thing to watch.

“It’s great to see, and they always come back with feedback that you think ‘um?’. You’re able to react to a lot of things and when they come back with feedback that it needs to be turned on it’s head, they can adapt to stuff.”

Antonelli F1 title will “take endurance”

After securing his first victory, talk has already turned to whether Antonelli can challenge for the world title in just his second year in the championship.

While this may sound premature, the fact that Mercedes appears to be a cut above the rest this year, means that more often than not, it will be either Antonelli or team-mate George Russell standing atop the podium.

“That’s going to take endurance,” said Bono. “We’ve got two fewer races, but that’s going to take endurance.

“To win one [race], that’s great. To win a championship, it’s exponential the effort that goes into it. And I think it’s taking it a step at a time. Follow the procedures, just think about the process, and don’t get ahead of yourself. Don’t worry, it will come.

“If you tick all the boxes and get all your ducks in a row, it will come to you, so just focus on the task in hand and don’t worry about a championship. It will come.”