Günther Steiner on Max Verstappen & Kimi Antonelli: A startling statement

That’s how fast things move in Formula 1: ahead of the 2026 Grand Prix season, Mercedes driver George Russell was considered the favourite for the World Championship; now his Italian team-mate Kimi Antonelli leads the provisional standings by a huge margin; and the question is probably no longer whether the 19-year-old from Bologna will become the youngest Formula 1 champion, but how soon.

Günther Steiner has also been closely following the progress of the young Antonelli. In his podcast *The Red Flags*, the former Haas team principal, when asked who he would be more likely to offer a four-year contract to – Antonelli or Max Verstappen – said: “Kimi, no question about it. If it had been for two years, then I might have said Max. But four years? I reckon that in four years’ time, Kimi Antonelli will be better than Max Verstappen.”

The 61-year-old from Merano compares two extraordinary comebacks by Max and Kimi – Verstappen in the rain in Brazil in 2024, and Antonelli at Monza in 2026.

As a reminder: Verstappen received a penalty before the Brazilian Grand Prix for fitting new engine components and had to start from P17. Max then charged his way to victory.

Antonelli had to start his home race from P19 (also demoted due to a new engine), which didn’t stop him from becoming the first Italian winner at Monza since 1966!

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Günther Steiner says: “I thought Max’s drive in Brazil back then was more spectacular, but Kimi’s performance at Monza was ultimately better. I still remember how we all looked at each other back in São Paulo whilst watching Max and asked: ‘What’s happening here?’”

“At Monza, the race was more solid in that there was no rain; in fact, after the enforced break caused by Leclerc’s crash, the Grand Prix proceeded as normal. And yet Kimi still won.”

“Back then, in the rain, Max could tell himself: ‘I’ve got nothing to lose, so I’m going to go all out.’ As for Kimi at Monza, Antonelli found the ideal balance between attack and control; it was, quite simply, a fantastic race from him.”

Antonelli made up seven places on hard tyres before the Leclerc crash (Stroll, Sainz, Tsunoda, Pérez, Bottas, Hülkenberg, Leclerc); after the restart, he overtook Ocon, Bearman, Bortoleto and Colapinto.

By lap 7, Kimi was already sixth (having overtaken Lindblad and Norris), then he overtook pole-sitter Gasly.

After that, Kimi and Mercedes cleverly took advantage of a virtual safety car period to fit Antonelli with fresh tyres. The 19-year-old went on to take the win.