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Andrea Kimi Antonelli has extended his winning streak to five consecutive races after victory in Monaco, but veteran Dutch commentator Olav Mol has pushed back against comparisons with Max Verstappen's early career. Speaking on Ziggo Sport's Race Café, Mol argued that the Mercedes driver's current dominance, while impressive, cannot fairly be measured against Verstappen at the same age because of a fundamental difference: the machinery beneath them.
Antonelli, who struggled to adapt to Formula 1 last season, has turned his campaign around dramatically in 2025. The 19-year-old Italian took his first win in China and has since established a commanding lead in the drivers' championship. His form has sparked speculation in Italy that he could become the country's first world champion since Alberto Ascari, and inevitably drawn parallels with Verstappen's meteoric rise.
Mol acknowledged the quality of Antonelli's performances but drew a clear line under how far the comparison should stretch. "What Antonelli is showing now definitely has something special about it. He's beginning to display the characteristics of an absolute top driver. But if I'm going to compare him, I want to do it with Verstappen when he was 19 himself. I won't go further than that," Mol said on the programme.
The machinery question
The commentator, who has followed Verstappen's career from the beginning, pointed to context that he believes skews the comparison. "Max was racing for Toro Rosso back then and had to fight with machinery that couldn't win. Antonelli is currently sitting in a car that wins races. What he's doing is still exceptionally impressive, but that's why these comparisons don't quite work for me."
Verstappen joined Toro Rosso in 2015 at 17 and spent his first season and a half battling in the midfield before his promotion to Red Bull Racing. Antonelli, by contrast, inherited a Mercedes seat alongside George Russell at a time when the Silver Arrows have returned to winning form after two difficult seasons under the current technical regulations.
Development still in progress
Mol also suggested that Antonelli remains a work in progress, despite his current dominance. "He radiates at the moment that everything is coming naturally. He's the big man of the moment and everything seems to be falling his way. At the same time, he still has something unguarded and youthful about him. That's exactly what makes him so interesting to follow."
The Dutch commentator reserved particular praise for Verstappen's qualifying performance in Monaco, where the Red Bull driver came close to pole position despite what Mol described as inferior machinery. "For me, the biggest surprise was actually that Max was even there. That he got that Red Bull so close to pole position was in itself a phenomenal achievement."
Antonelli's next test comes as the championship heads to races where Mercedes has historically been less dominant. Whether his form holds under different circumstances will determine if the Verstappen comparisons carry more weight, or if Mol's caution proves well-founded
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