After every Formula 1 race, driver Jeroen Bleekemolen shares his findings in an exclusive column for Formule1.nl. Who or what caught his eye, what went well, and what needs to change? This time: the potential of Kimi Antonelli, which is even greater than winning races like in China! Because a title, yes, that is also possible.
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I already had him high on my list: Kimi Antonelli. And many with me, because it has been clear for a long time how talented he is. You never know for sure if the potential will translate to Formula 1, but with Antonelli, expectations were high. In China, you saw how he lives up to them. Well driven, a fine victory. And not just any victory. There might be more in it: he could just as easily become champion.
Read our digital race special about the Chinese GP here, 40 pages
George Russell knows that too, his teammate at Mercedes. And speaking of Russell: he had a bit of a scare on Saturday in qualifying. Suddenly there was a problem with the car. It turned out okay for Russell; he qualified second. But still: it proves that even the speed-dominant Mercedes doesn’t necessarily have the guarantee of a reliable car.
Painful
In fact: so far we see that every team, every brand, has encountered some problems. Take the problems at McLaren. It was bitter that both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could not start. Painful. Especially when you see that Piastri has not driven a single meter in the first two GPs due to the crash on the way to the grid last week and the problem this time.
Read more PREMIUM: GP China race special of over 40 pages!
It’s striking, by the way, that none of last year’s title contenders have had a smooth start so far. Because it was quickly clear that this wouldn’t be a top weekend for Max Verstappen either. And here too, you see that Ford and Red Bull are having problems with their own power units or parts of them. Last week an Isack Hadjar retirement, now Max. It’s not really getting anywhere yet. And as for a possible chance at the title, well, let’s especially not talk about that.
Solutions
Who knows, the teams might be able to take some steps soon. Due to the cancellation of the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, they have some opportunities to investigate things and fix problems. Or to detect new ones. It seems nice to have a bit more time for such matters. On the other hand, you can’t drive and therefore can’t test if devised solutions actually work on the track, for example. So that will only become clear later.
But first: Japan, coming soon. You can bet that Mercedes will still have the fastest car then; the gap is enormous. Even to Ferrari. But you see it with the number of retirements or cars that didn’t even start: reliability is really a thing this season, especially at the beginning. So Mercedes can’t count their chickens yet either.
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Read everything about the Chinese GP here
