When you meet Kimi Antonelli, you quickly realise what a lovely young man he really is. Polite, positive and always smiling, he seems to embody the very best of Italian culture and mentality.

Make no mistake, though: beneath that friendly personality is a fierce competitor — driven, ambitious and hungry for success. Yet there is not even the slightest hint of arrogance. Even when frustration gets the better of him, it rarely lasts long. He moves on quickly and gets back to business.

One of the loveliest things to witness is the way he looks after his little sister, Maggie. You can see the big brother in him, and it says a lot about the person behind the racing helmet.

There were plenty of doubts about his age and relative lack of experience. Kimi has answered them in the best possible way. And we are absolutely convinced that what we have seen so far is only the beginning. Kimi has only just started!

The podium today delivered another special moment. Kimi was lifted into the air by none other than Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time World Champion, and Max Verstappen, a four-time World Champion.

Two legends showing their respect for the young Italian.

Grande, Kimi. RESPECT! 🏆🏎️

The suspension failure we witnessed today cannot simply be brushed aside. This was an extremely dangerous incident, and failures of this kind should have no place in modern Formula 1.

All F1 cars are pushed to their limits, but there are boundaries that must never be compromised. When it comes to suspension and braking systems, reliability is non-negotiable.

Beyond the spectacular images, the footage appears to reveal something particularly concerning. Once the suspension failed, the entire front-left brake assembly was apparently destroyed, with the brake line also rupturing. This would have caused a loss of hydraulic pressure in the front braking circuit, potentially leaving the car relying on its rear brakes to slow down before hitting the barriers.

We have seen similar scenarios in the past, including a notorious incident involving one of Adrian Newey’s extreme designs almost two decades ago. F1 has made enormous progress in safety since then, but incidents like this are a reminder that there is still work to be done.

The most important thing is that Valtteri Bottas walked away from a crash at over 300 km/h unscathed. That is what really matters. 🏎️

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Well, another race and another Ferrari mess.

Let's go back to the start. At Turn 1, Charles went for a tiny gap, while Lewis was quite aggressive in defending his position. Charles did well to avoid contact and then produced a beautiful cutback, allowing him to get on the throttle earlier and build a speed advantage towards Turn 4.

With Lewis covering the inside, Charles's only realistic option was to go around the outside and brake later. That's exactly what he did. Lewis released the brakes and took an extremely wide line, eventually running beyond track limits. Charles also went wide, and as Lewis tried to recover, Max seized the opportunity to pass him.

But was that really the right decision? What if both Ferraris had run wide, maintained their relative positions, kept the Red Bull behind and avoided a potential penalty by not gaining an advantage?

The answer seems fairly obvious.

Then Hamilton deployed one of his familiar weapons: suggesting he had been pushed or hit by his team-mate. The reality? He was neither pushed nor hit. If anything, he was forced wide by his own defensive manoeuvre — Charles certainly did not force him into such an excessive defence.

Now Hamilton is rallying support around the suggestion that Charles cost Ferrari a potential one-two finish. That feels rather manipulative and brings back memories of the mind games he played against Alonso and Rosberg.

Yes, Charles is an aggressive and uncompromising racer. But let's go back to the moment when the gloves first came off this season. Remember that surprise, highly aggressive attack at Turn 1 in Monza? Much of what has followed since then is hardly surprising.

Ferrari clearly has some difficult conversations ahead. And unless the team gets control of the situation, things could get even messier. 🏎️

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🏎️ The Fastest Lap Team

All images and videos used in The Fastest Lap Newsletter are our own or have been provided by our partners, including https://www.spasgp.com/

The Fastest Lap Newsletter is an independent project and is not affiliated with Formula 1 or any F1 team.

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That’s a chequered flag 🏁 for today.

Tomorrow, best. 🏎️