Andrea Kimi Antonelli dedicated his third Formula 1 victory to Alex Zanardi, who died last week.
Zanardi, like Antonelli, was born in Bologna and was a two-time CART IndyCar champion. After a devastating crash in Germany in 2001 left him without both legs, Zanardi rebuilt his life and became a highly successful handbike racer, winning Paralympic gold medals.
Antonelli paid tribute after his win in Miami. “This race, this win, is for Alex,” he said. “He was a good family friend as well, so it was terrible to hear that he passed away.
“Today I really wanted to win for him as well because I think he’s such a powerful inspiration for what he’s been through in his life. After the crash, how he came back was incredible — how he was able to move on, create a new life and still succeed.
“For me he was a role model, someone who never gives up. The news was very sad, and today’s win was for him.”
Although Antonelli briefly lost the lead from pole and slid off at the first corner, his team executed an effective early pit stop that allowed him to undercut Lando Norris and regain track position. He then faced sustained pressure from rivals for the remainder of the race.
“It was a good race, a very special one,” Antonelli said. “It wasn’t easy because I had a bit of everything. The start wasn’t great and I made a mistake, but I was fortunate with how things unfolded. I was fighting with Charles [Leclerc] and Lando, then Lando passed me and I had some energy-management issues, so I had to chase back.”
Antonelli credited the undercut for putting him back in contention. “Luckily the undercut worked very well, and then we found ourselves being chased. It wasn’t easy because Lando was quick and applied a lot of pressure. I just knew I couldn’t make any mistakes.”
Being hunted by Norris was “very stressful,” Antonelli added, because Norris was often on the edge of gaining Overtake Mode, a powerful tool that can change the outcome of close battles. Changing track conditions added to the challenge: intermittent rain had cleaned rubber from the surface and made the circuit slippery.
“The conditions were tricky today with the rain cleaning the rubber on the track, so it was very slippery. It wasn’t easy, but I’m very happy we brought it home,” he said. “Of course, massive thanks to the team for the incredible job and to my family, who were here the whole weekend.”
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