Antonelli says he still has questions to answer

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Teenager Kimi Antonelli has won five consecutive races this season and has also been on pole position four times By Andrew Benson F1 Correspondent Published 22 minutes ago Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli says he still has a lot to prove despite the imposing championship lead he has established after just six races this season. The 19-year-old Italian has a 66-point lead over Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton after winning five of the first six grands prix this year. His team-mate George Russell, who won the opening race of the season, has suffered a slump that leaves him a further two points adrift going into this weekend's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. Antonelli said: "There are questions that still need to be answered on my side - how much further I can go in a short period of time, how much I can push myself even further and how much I can grow and how big is the potential?" He admitted that a period in the middle of his debut season last year, when he was off the pace and suffered a number of incidents, had knocked his confidence at the time but had turned out to be an important part of his development. How to follow Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on the BBC Published 4 hours ago Powell and Pulling to commentate on Barcelona GP for the BBC Published 2 hours ago "Last year I would doubt a lot myself, especially during that difficult period in Europe," he said. "This year it's a different story and you mature a lot after one year in F1 not only as a driver but also as a person. "Last year during the difficult period, I got to know myself better. Considering how bad it was in the moment, I am very grateful it happened because it made me grow a lot and taught me a lot about myself. This year I haven't been questioning or doubting myself." Antonelli finished last year seventh in the championship, three places and 169 points behind Russell. The Briton won two grands prix, while Antonelli's best result was a single podium finish in third place in the Canadian Grand Prix. He outqualified Russell only five times all season, and was 0.24 seconds slower on average. This year, Russell has suffered some bad luck at various times - including with a pit stop that went wrong and led to a penalty in Monaco last weekend. But he acknowledged in Monaco that he was struggling to get the best out of the car. Antonelli is 5-4 ahead in the qualifying head-to-head at an average advantage of 0.110secs. He said: "A lot has changed. The year of experience itself played a massive role - making your own experiences, understanding what is good and not good for you during the weekend and outside the weekend. "The experience, being able to come back into the weekend and having done it the year before plays a massive difference. You know better the track evolution and so on and you are able to balance your energies in a better way so you feel better in the car in terms of energy. "You become more aware of your potential and you know better th