Antonelli’s performance against Bearman in Formula 2 impresses De Vries

In brief

Antonelli “very special” – de Vries

Much-hyped Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli hasn’t finished on the podium yet in Formula 2 but de Vries is impressed by how well he compares to Oliver Bearman, who made his Formula 1 debut for Ferrari as a substitute earlier this month.

“Everyone is talking about Ollie Bearman, because he did a very good, solid job – but if you look at Ollie, he did obviously a season in Formula 2, if you look at all the testing in Bahrain in the first weekend in Bahrain, even though the team was not necessarily performing, Kimi was always ahead of Ollie,” de Vries told Pelas Pistas.

“Of course, when you go to a track like Jeddah when you have 30 minutes free practice in F2 and then go into quali, he was only two-tenths off. So I think he did a very solid job. And clearly at the moment Prema hasn’t really figured it out yet so they are not performing. But I am very sure Kimi is very special.”

De Vries, also a former Mercedes junior driver, said Antonelli “lives and breathes racing” and is well-prepared for an F1 debut. “His father has a racing team. He has been driving all sorts of cars since a very young age. When you meet him, when you talk to him, he is a bright kid. He is sharp. He knows everything about racing.”

Having made his F1 debut as a substitute in 2022, de Vries was also impressed by Bearman’s performance as a stand-in for Sainz during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend. “I really think he did an amazing job,” he said. “He’s 18 years old, to turn up, you have no free practice, I mean one session, and to do the job he did to me is very impressive.

“I obviously did it in a much later point in my career. But also if I put myself back into my shoes when I was 18, I mean I looked like 12, I would have never been able to drive the thing.”

Drive to Survive won’t ignore Horner controversy

‘It will have to be referenced in some capacity,” he told The Telegraph. “And they will all want it to be told in a particular way, so it’s about treading that line to keep everybody happy, and to keep Netflix happy, and us – so we can sleep at night with the decisions we’ve made.

“You have to have balance. I think Horner is looking okay for the time being, but it doesn’t feel like it’s done yet. It will all depend on how it plays out. I don’t know what he got up to – and I genuinely don’t have an opinion on it, but he’s been through it and you wouldn’t wish that on anybody.”

Cassidy loses points lead as Nato regains sixth

Norman Nato’s sixth place finish in yesterday’s Formula E race was reinstated after the stewards accept a request for a review from his team. Andretti successfully argued the stewards had not seen a video angle which showed Nato had left Robin Frijns sufficient room as they fought for position.

His five-second post-race penalty was rescinded. He therefore returns to sixth in the race ahead of Nico Mueller and Nick Cassidy. The latter lost his lead in the championship as a result and now lies two points behind Pascal Wehrlein.

Palmowski opens GB3 season after win

Alisha Palmowski got her first season in GB4 off to the best possible start, controlling proceedings at Oulton Park after taking the lead from second on the grid. The Elite Motorsport driver led home KMR duo Harry Burgoyne and Brandon McCaughan.

Her team mate Finn Harrison picked up a 10-second penalty for a false start after spinning as he arrived on the grid, which can be seen at the start of this video:

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

F1 owner bets big on two wheels (Financial Times)

'Liberty was not the sole suitor. TKO, fresh from combining the Ultimate Fighting Championship with WWE, was also keen to get into motorsport. Qatar Sports Investments, owner of Paris Saint-Germain, had a good look too at what would have been by far the biggest deal so far for the state-backed fund.'

Vernay: 'Imola, what a race track... it's going to be amazing!' (WEC)

'What will be important is to be really aggressive in the traffic, to not lose too much time without taking risks. I think as soon as you will be go off the line it's going to be tricky with the LMGT3 cars there too, but I it's gonna be super fun and I can't wait!'

Siegel satisfied with strides made in debut at Thermal (IndyCar)

'I was at Daytona testing a sports car and didn’t know I was going to drive an IndyCar series car. Dale (Coyne) said, 'We’re testing next week, can you be in Miami tomorrow?' I was like, 'I'll be there!''

Trident trending in the ‘right direction’ after positive Melbourne weekend says Ricci (F2)

'Roman (Stanek) did a good job despite his pace not being amazing. He was struggling in the second part of the race, but he had a great drive with a great defence.'

Nikita Bedrin to race in FREC alongside FIA F3 campaign (Formula Scout)

'Despite the wording of the FREC announcement, Bedrin’s F3 campaign will take priority so he will actually do a full season there and miss Formula Regional races.'

What is the job of a reserve driver? (Mercedes via YouTube)

Formula E round 5: Tokyo (Formula E via YouTube)

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Social media

Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:

Well, have to say, as a major FE sceptic, I was pleasantly surprised by the inaugural Tokyo ePrix – the track, the venue as a whole and the race itself. And importantly, everyone seemed genuine happy to be there. Hope to be back next year! pic.twitter.com/ekog7eLGeT

— Jamie Klein /クライン・ジェイミー (@JamieKlein_) March 30, 2024

A once-in-a-lifetime experience! 🪸 @OscarPiastri snorkeling in The Great Barrier Reef.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks, for more on McLaren's Climate Contribution Programme and the @GBRFoundation's work in accelerating efforts to restore and protect the Great Barrier Reef. 🧡 pic.twitter.com/u9GrcRozyd

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 30, 2024

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• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

Where should Sainz go next year? MichaelN thinks his former employer should come calling:

Sainz at Mercedes with Russell doesn’t really seem all that exciting, especially as the team seems a bit lost on how to move forward. And given their fragmented ownership, their future is not all that certain. It’s not really a works team anymore, in some sense. And unless something truly extraordinary happens, Audi won’t be competitive for a long time. Not with Sauber. So that seems like a waste for Sainz to be at this point in his career.

Would Sainz want to race with Verstappen again? It got quite tense at Toro Rosso… and it’s an open question if Horner can focus on his job long enough to manage that kind of driver pairing. Verstappen would likely have the upper hand, but Sainz would be more of a Rosberg than a Bottas. Not the favourite to win, but quick enough to annoy, and probably often enough to cause some tension. It’d be great for F1, probably great for Sainz – but would Red Bull want to?
MichaelN

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Yuri Kofman and Shortstick1!

On this day in motorsport

• 30 years ago today Jean Alesi suffered a heavy testing crash at Mugello which ruled him out of the Pacific Grand Prix