Liuzzi saw in Antonelli qualities inherent to Vettel.

      Vitantonio Liuzzi has long since finished his racing career, but he continues to attend Formula 1 events as an FIA steward. The Italian recalled the year 2007 when his teammate at Toro Rosso was Sebastian Vettel and compared his compatriot Kimi Antonelli to the four-time world champion.

      “Vettel was my teammate, and he was just magnificent,” Vitantonio Liuzzi said in the Chiacchiere da Box podcast. “He not only communicated excellently over the radio with the engineers and established communication within the team, but he was also a real motivator for everyone, able to win everyone over. I must say that this was his best quality, and I see something similar in Kimi.

      He is only 19 years old, but he is already showing incredible maturity in his actions. This is a good sign. Right now, we in Italy should hope for Mercedes, but of course, we continue to hope for Ferrari's return as well.

      But as for our Antonelli, we must continue to support him and Mercedes until the end of the year. We’ll see how many points everyone has by mid-season when everyone starts to progress.”