Antonelli faces Monumental challenge at new Madring circuit
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MADRID, Sept 9 : Kimi Antonelli is Formula One’s man of the moment but Mercedes’ 20-year-old championship leader faces a Monumental challenge in Spain this weekend, along with all his rivals.
Fresh from becoming the first Italian since 1966 to win his home race at Monza, Antonelli will be entering new territory when the Spanish capital’s Madring makes its grand prix debut with a signature ‘La Monumental’ banked curve.
The second race in Spain this year, after Barcelona’s Catalunya Grand Prix, presents the first new circuit on the calendar since Las Vegas three years ago and is the last round of the regular European season. It is one where the pecking order has yet to be established and drivers have only simulator data to work with.
La Monumental is a 550m-long high-speed 270 degree curve with a crest on the exit meaning drivers momentarily take it blind as they look up at the sky.
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Mercedes, winners of nine of the first 13 races, are sure to be in the mix but can expect a tougher fight than Monza where they finished one-two with Antonelli now 66 points clear of teammate George Russell.
FERRARI FILMED AT THE TRACK IN JULY
Antonelli can still put the equivalent of three race wins between him and Russell, adding new clues to the guessing game of where he might win the title, while the Briton will be chasing a first win since Austria in June to prevent his hopes from withering further.
McLaren, who won in the Netherlands and Hungary with reigning world champion Lando Norris and have Oscar Piastri hungry to open his account, could be the main rivals.
“The circuit characteristics are much closer to somewhere like Budapest or Zandvoort. We are therefore expecting a very close-fought weekend,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc drove the Madring when it was still a building site on a scorching filming day in July but both drivers played down the significance of that.
“We only had a few laps, so it was very dusty for a new circuit,” said Hamilton at the time. “There was no grip, your tyres were basically covered in dust the whole time. It looks like it will be a qualifying lap sort of circuit, and there’s not really any straights. So it looks like a difficult place to overtake.”
Leclerc, who crashed heavily at Monza on Sunday, has said he expects La Monumental to become ‘iconic’ and require full commitment from drivers who will be on the limit.
Spaniard Carlos Sainz, the Madrid-born Williams driver who is an ambassador for the track, is the only other driver with prior experience of Madring.
“Looking at the track and hearing of what happened in the F3 test, I think we are all expecting safety cars, red flags and yellow flags in qualy and things like this,” said Sainz.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, a lifelong fan of Real Madrid, is the other home driver but fans have learnt to dim their expectations with Aston Martin and partners Honda still playing catch up.
Frenchman Isack Hadjar is still out injured with New Zealander Liam Lawson replacing him at Red Bull for the third race in a row while reserve Yuki Tsunoda stands in at Racing Bulls.
Organisers say all tickets are sold with 130,000 spectators expected daily and close to 350,000 cumulatively.
Source: Reuters
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