Max Verstappen’s thumbs-up said plenty. Fresh from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver bumped into Kimi Antonelli in parc fermé and asked the Mercedes rookie where he’d finished. “Fourth,” came the reply, the teenager having surged from a Q1 exit to the sharp end. Verstappen did a double take, then grinned. Minutes later, both McLarens were disqualified for excessive plank wear and Antonelli’s night got even better: fourth became a podium.
For Mercedes, it capped a feel-good swing on the Strip. George Russell was promoted to second, Antonelli to third, and the team grabbed the wholesome Verstappen–Antonelli moment for social. The tone was mutual respect — from a driver who’s made a career out of ruthless recovery drives, to a rookie who just authored one of his own.
“Where did you finish… WHAAA?”
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1)November 23, 2025
Strip away the late drama and Antonelli’s night was already a statement. He’d started 17th after dropping out in Q1, then rolled ever so slightly before the lights went out — enough to land a five-second penalty for a false start. Mercedes bet early, pulling him in under the Virtual Safety Car for what became his sole stop. The gamble put him on the back foot for tire life, and the middle stint got scruffy with graining. But he managed it, kept the lap times alive, and — crucially — had the track position when it mattered.
“Really happy with that,” Antonelli said. “The strategy was very risky. I was a bit concerned halfway through the race because the graining started to appear, and I wasn’t so sure I would have been able to make it to the end. But then I got the team radio that we were moving to Plan B, so the plan was to finish with that set, and I was just trying to manage the best way as possible. Eventually the graining started to clean up, and the time just kept coming and coming and we were able to keep Oscar and Charles behind.”
Initially, that five-second penalty nudged him behind Oscar Piastri at the flag, having already fended off both the McLaren and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on track. Then came the stewards’ room twist: both McLarens excluded after the routine post-race checks uncovered excessive plank wear. Mercedes’ solid haul became a double podium. A night that began with Antonelli staring at a long evening turned into the latest chapter in a rookie season that’s found serious momentum.
It tracks with his wider arc. Mercedes has already locked him in for 2026, and since Brazil the 19-year-old has looked increasingly at home in the car — brisk on Sundays, disciplined under pressure, and quietly ruthless in wheel-to-wheel fights. “The feeling is getting better and better in the car,” he said. “I’ve been enjoying quite a lot lately, and it’s been, after Brazil, good momentum. Of course, yesterday was a big shame. I was very disappointed, but today was redemption. Just need to now focus on the next two and really want to finish on a high.”
There’s a subplot brewing, too. Antonelli succeeded Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes and, with two rounds left in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, he’s trimmed the gap to Hamilton to 15 points in the Drivers’ Championship. It’s a tidy benchmark for a debut campaign: chasing down the seven-time champion he replaced, while feeding a resurgent Mercedes points total with drives that look nothing like those of a rookie.
And Verstappen’s reaction? That was the tourniquet on a night that had already bled enough storylines. The triple world champion knows what it takes to tear through the field when the day demands it — he’s built an empire on it — and he recognized a kindred performance when he heard “fourth.” Before the disqualifications bumped Antonelli up, the nod of approval had already landed. After them, it felt even more fitting.
Mercedes has been crying out for weekends like this: disciplined strategy, drivers converting messy Saturdays into polished Sundays, and a bit of luck at the stewards’ table. They got all three in Vegas. And the kid at the center of it? He’s making Monaco-level noise without saying much at all.
