Antonelli targets sixth straight Formula One win in Spain

BARCELONA: Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli heads into this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix chasing a sixth consecutive Formula One victory, a run that would place the 19-year-old Italian among a small group of drivers to have achieved the feat.

Antonelli arrives in Catalunya after winning from pole position in Monaco, where he converted a standout qualifying performance into a controlled lights-to-flag success. His rise has already made him the youngest championship leader in Formula One history, and another victory on Sunday would draw him level with Mercedes team-mate George Russell's career total for wins.

The build-up to the race has also prompted comparisons with the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, when Max Verstappen claimed victory on his Red Bull debut at the age of 18. That race followed a first-lap collision between Mercedes team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, handing the opportunity to Verstappen, with Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel finishing second and third.

There are fresh parallels this year after Mercedes again arrived in Spain as the team to beat, while their drivers also clashed recently in Canada. A repeat of that kind of scenario cannot be ruled out. For Red Bull to challenge strongly, however, the team will need to recover from the power unit failure that left Verstappen out before the start in Monte Carlo and rediscover the pace it showed in Montreal, where the four-time world champion finished third.

Short list of six-race winners

If Antonelli wins again, he will become only the sixth driver to put together six successive victories. Verstappen has done it twice and Vettel once, while Michael Schumacher achieved the mark three times. The other drivers listed as having reached six in a row were Nigel Mansell, Jim Clark, Jack Brabham, Rosberg and Alberto Ascari, who remains the only Italian on that list.

Hamilton twice managed five wins in succession but never a sixth. Ayrton Senna reached four consecutive wins on two occasions, while Alain Prost did so once.

Championship picture

Antonelli leads the standings by 66 points over Hamilton, whose move to Ferrari has yet to bring a first win but has produced second-place finishes in Canada and Monaco. Hamilton also shares the record for most wins at the Barcelona circuit, with six, alongside Schumacher.

Russell is third in the championship on 68 points and heads into the Spanish weekend after a difficult spell that included speeding penalties and pit-stop errors in Monaco. Speaking about his recent form, Russell said:

I'm in a very weird state of mind,

I’ve never had a run like this..

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff backed the British driver and said the team would work to help him recover his form.

It hasn’t gone George's way, but he is strong mentally and we know the level he can deliver… The objective is simple – reset, focus and perform.

Also present in the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix field were several current drivers, including Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg. Valtteri Bottas, now with Cadillac in the team's first Formula One season, had finished fifth for Williams in that race.