If there is one man who knows what it takes to survive the sport’s unforgiving spotlight, it is Kimi Raikkonen – and the 2007 world champion believes fellow Kimi, teenage sensation Kimi Antonelli, has the mental armour needed to go all the way.
The famously laconic Finn offered a glowing assessment of Mercedes’ rising star, whose stunning 2026 campaign has transformed him from exciting prospect into genuine championship frontrunner.
With Antonelli sitting at the summit of the standings after a breathtaking run of form, Raikkonen sees a driver who is not only fast, but mentally equipped for the long and brutal fight that accompanies a title challenge.
“Antonelli won’t lose focus; he’s showing maturity,” Raikkonen told Quotidiano Nazionale.
“He’ll have to avoid imitating Piastri in 2025. At one point, the Australian McLaren driver seemed to have the title in his pocket, but he couldn’t handle the pressure.
“The Italian won’t fall into the same trap.”
A teenager refusing to blink
Antonelli’s rise has been one of the defining stories of the season. While rivals have stumbled and momentum has shifted throughout the field, the young Italian has continued to deliver with remarkable consistency.
Raikkonen believes that resilience is no accident.
“Yes, and he believes in it. You can see it in the way he approaches the races, in the spirit he puts into it,” he added.
The endorsement carries extra weight coming from a driver who built a Hall-of-Fame career on keeping emotions in check. Raikkonen’s trademark coolness became legendary during his championship-winning years, and he appears to recognise a similar inner calm in Antonelli.
Recent results have only strengthened that view. Antonelli’s streak of four consecutive Grand Prix victories has sent shockwaves through the championship and forced even the most sceptical observers to take his title ambitions seriously.
“Obviously, in Formula 1, you don’t win four consecutive Grands Prix unless you have special talent,” Raikkonen said.
“Antonelli’s numbers are a feat. Having the right car is crucial, but it’s always been that way, throughout history.”
Max still ‘a phenomenon’
Despite largely retreating from the public eye since stepping away from Formula 1 at the end of 2021, Raikkonen has been keeping a close watch on the remarkable emergence of the young Italian.
Part of that interest, admittedly, comes from a shared first name that has delighted fans across the sport.
“Naturally, I follow Antonelli’s exploits with great sympathy,” he explained. “I’m amused that he shares my name, even though I think it’s just a coincidence. He’s certainly very talented.”
Yet while Raikkonen is clearly impressed by Antonelli’s exploits, he remains convinced that one driver still sets the benchmark when pure ability is measured independently of machinery.
Asked who he regards as the strongest driver currently on the grid, the Finn’s answer came instantly.
“Verstappen,” he said. “I saw him arrive in F1 during my second stint at Ferrari. Max is a phenomenon.
“He won his first race in Spain right in front of me, ten years ago. That’s when I realised a star was born.”
The memory remains a vivid one. Raikkonen finished second to Verstappen at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, the race that launched the Dutchman’s Red Bull career in spectacular fashion and provided the first glimpse of a future multiple world champion.
Ferrari’s long wait continues
Raikkonen also reflected on another storyline that refuses to disappear from Formula 1: Ferrari’s prolonged hunt for a drivers’ title.
Nearly two decades have passed since the Finn delivered the Scuderia’s most recent world championship in 2007, a statistic that continues to loom over the sport’s most famous team.
“When I left the Scuderia at the end of 2018, I hoped the team would quickly find a successor to me in the championship’s roll of honour,” he said.
“It hasn’t happened yet, but from afar I see encouraging signs.”
For now, however, the spotlight belongs elsewhere – on a young Italian carrying both a famous first name and the hopes of a nation.
And if Raikkonen’s judgement is correct, Antonelli possesses the one quality that often separates contenders from champions: the ability to stay cool when the pressure reaches boiling point.
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