Kimi Antonelli has spoken for the first time about his first meetings with Max Verstappen.
The reigning F1 champion will have a new rival on the 2025 grid when Antonelli arrives for a much-vaunted rookie campaign.
Teenager Antonelli is replacing Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
Antonelli was asked if rival drivers could be friends.
“Off the track yes,” he was quoted by Gazzetta.
“But on the track you can’t look at anyone, no one does you any favours and you can’t have any.
“There you are racing only for yourself.”
Antonelli spoke positively about Verstappen: “I’ve spoken to him a few times and he’s a great person, I like him a lot.
“We’ve also raced against him in the simulator and he follows the minor categories a lot.
“On the track he’s seen as very rigid, but off it he’s very easy going, normal.”
Verstappen was once the highly-touted teen starlet arriving on the Formula 1 grid.
Next year, Antonelli will be joined by Ollie Bearman while Jack Doohan and Liam Lawson also represent young, talented options.
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