“At his age,” said Verstappen, “to be so solid, not make big mistakes, and of course also beat your experienced team-mate, he’s just driven incredible, and I’m very proud of him, how he has handled himself this whole season.”
Lando Norris, the outgoing world champion, was also effusive in his praise.
“It couldn’t have gone to a better person,” he said. “He’s a genuine guy, very, very kind, and he has driven unbelievably well this year, better that what everyone was expecting of him.
“He’s certainly not had an easy season in terms of his competition being incredibly high. He has gone up against the best drivers in the world, all in very good cars, and he’s blown everyone away.
“I hope everyone gives him enough credit for what he’s achieved this year. He’s made everyone else look silly. He’s driven that well and he’s been able to click with his car, he’s worked hard to understand how to drive this car and he’s exploited it better than anyone else.
“So he should be very proud. He has achieved history and I am very, very happy for him.”
For Antonelli, the difficulties of last year were formative, and critical in what he has been able to achieve this.
“The fact that some people said that I wasn’t belonging to F1,” he said, “or I wasn’t ready for it – which at some point last year I probably looked like I wasn’t – being able to experience those moments made me much more ready ahead of this year.
“Experiencing really low and difficult situations, high-pressure moments, really helped me to face certain situations this year and definitely they made me mature a lot as a driver, as a person.
“Still this year I’ve had moments where I could have done better, a lot better, so it’s just a constant learning process.
“Last year being able to race straight into Mercedes, obviously straight under the spotlight, made me grow much faster than if I would have gone to a smaller team, for example.”
