Antonelli laughs off father's 'throttled chicken' threat

Formula One leader Kimi Antonelli ​has revealed how winning the Belgian Grand Prix from pole position on his father's ‌birthday weekend also triggered a jokey parental threat of throttling him like a chicken.

The 19-year-old Mercedes driver's triumph at Spa last weekend increased his championship advantage over Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton to 45 points but there were elements of the ​Italian's driving that father Marco, despite his obvious delight at the outcome, felt could be ​improved.

The number of times his son needlessly exceeded track limits, risking a sanction, ⁠was a concern.

"One of the first things he told me after the race was congrats but, ​always a but, 'if I see you doing another track limit for nothing I'm going to stretch your ​neck like a chicken'," Antonelli laughingly told reporters at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

"Those were his words. So it's something I need to definitely work on."

Antonelli recognised he liked "to use the track sometimes a bit too much".

"I mean, I look ​back at Spa and the two track limits (violations) I did were very stupid and I was ​like 'what the heck am I doing?'" he said.

"It's a bit like Barcelona as well and Miami. I just feel ‌that ⁠it's something I need to work on for sure because sometimes in a race I might need to use them but if I use them when I don't need to then I might find myself in trouble."

Antonelli has won six of 10 grands prix this season and is 50 points clear ​of teammate George Russell, ​who has won twice ⁠but suffered three races without scoring -- spinning off into the gravel on the opening lap at Spa.

Russell suffered a loss of straight-line speed in Belgium ​but told reporters at the Hungaroring that Mercedes had now got to the ​bottom of ⁠the problem.

The Briton was complimentary about Antonelli's form.

"At the moment Kimi definitely deserves to be leading the championship," he said. "He's done a better job than me this season. That's the facts of it.

"The last two ⁠weekends were ​challenging for me when maybe my performance is not where ​it needs to be.

"But then when there's something external hampering that as well, it's difficult to know where you put your ​attention to. So I'm hoping just for a cleaner weekend here."