MADRID — Kimi Antonelli is coming off one of the biggest highs of his career — an epic comeback win in Monza in front of his home fans to extend his lead in Formula 1.
The young Italian will look to keep his momentum and add to his points lead this weekend as the Spanish Grand Prix returns to Madrid after more than four decades — in a race featuring the unknowns of a new hybrid circuit that drivers called "crazy" and "insane" even before cars got to the track.
Antonelli rallied from 19th on the grid to win last weekend's Italian GP in what he called an "absolutely incredible" feat.
"Definitely so far the best day of my life, and an incredible memory,” Antonelli said Thursday. "Wish (I had) a bit more time to realize and enjoy it, but now obviously we are in Madrid and we are ready to do our best and we’ll try to repeat.”
Last weekend's victory gave the 20-year-old Antonelli a 66-point lead over Mercedes teammate George Russell with 10 races remaining, including Sunday's debut of the Madring track that has put the F1 paddock on edge.
The Spanish GP ends the European part of the season. The Madrid region last hosted an F1 race in 1981 at Jarama, on the outskirts of the Spanish capital. Barcelona had been the home of the Spanish GP in recent years. The Jerez de la Frontera track in southern Spain hosted races from 1986-90, and in 1994 and 1997. Madring signed a contract with F1 through 2035.
Exciting new track
The 5.4-kilometer (3.3-mile) Madring track, the newest addition to the F1 calendar since Las Vegas' debut three years ago, combines high-speed zones, heavy-braking areas, changes of gradient, blind turns and high-load corners that should give drivers little margin for error. It mixes existing roads with purpose-built areas, and in most sections cars will run extremely close to the walls.
The heavily banked corner “La Monumental” is expected to be the highlight of the new track. It is nearly 550 meters (yards) in length and cars will spend about six second on it. There is up to 10 metres (yards) of height difference between its lower and upper sections.
“It seems a wild track to be fair. It’s mental but excited to experience it. Going to be a real challenge and I think qualifying is going to be important,” said Russell, who hasn't won since the Austrian GP in June. “The level of everyone in F1 is exceptionally high. It’s going to be a circuit where you need confidence. Very challenging, lots of high speed corners, aggressive curbs. Going to be an experience for sure. Just try and keep out of the wall and build up to it.”
‘Insane’ and ‘crazy’ layout
Alpine's Pierre Gasly said the "track itself looked insane" on the simulator. Haas' Esteban Ocon called it a "crazy circuit" with "a lot of risk-reward." Aston Martin's veteran two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso expected "high-adrenaline" laps.
“The track seems difficult, first of all, to learn, very technical, a lot of curb riding and a couple of high-speed sections where you need to get very close to the walls, which is very attractive and very high adrenaline for a driver,” Alonso said.
Cars from Formula 2 and Formula 3 will be the first to take to the track on Friday. F1 drivers will have two practice sessions later in the day. Another session will be on Saturday, before qualifying. The F1 race is Sunday.
There were plenty of red flags when the F3 cars first tested the track last month, and more are expected this weekend.
The first happened during the F2 practice session, when Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak's car caught fire after hitting the wall. It took several minutes for track workers to clear the area. There were no major incidents in the first F3 session.
Ferrari says Monza squabble is in the past
Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton said they talked after a near collision between the two at the team's home race in Monza last weekend, and their relationship remains strong.
Leclerc on Thursday said he took responsibility for the incident early in the race, and Hamilton praised his teammate's maturity.
Both drivers said the focus now was on helping the team get closer to Mercedes.
“Just making sure we’re executing to make sure we get the best results for the team instead of us working against each other and finishing fourth and fifth,” Hamilton said. “Maybe you can work together and get a podium and pull off more points.”
Spanish drivers face uphill battle
Organizers said tickets for the Spanish GP were sold out, with 350,000 people in total expected to attend the event over the three days of racing.
It's unlikely they will be celebrating a victory for one of the two Spanish drivers on the F1 grid, as Alonso's Aston Martin and Carlos Sainz's Williams have been well off the pace this season.
“I think it’s no secret that it’s still going to be a struggle for us,” Sainz said. “I couldn’t think about a layout that is probably more difficult for our car. But it’s OK. I’m just going to work extremely hard to make sure this is the last year that I come here to Madrid without a chance of fighting for something bigger."
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