When I was really deep into boxing, I became aware of a pattern that every promoter would engage in when discussing upcoming fights for a star. They'd throw out names - 3-5 names, specifically - and in that list of names all but one would be strong, unquestionable, indisputable options for a fight that were often stars in their own right. And then there was the one outlier: clearly someone who didn't belong next to the other names, didn't have the resume, didn't have the skills, but who appeared stronger simply by being positioned next to them. And as Jim Cornette would say, "Wouldn't you know who won the pony!" when it came time to actually announce a fight. Always the outlier.
Verstappen is the top guy in the world. Alonso is a legend. Sainz appears to be one of the best drivers around today and just won, breaking up the Red Bull domination - been linked to Audi Sauber forever which may be legitimate talk or just banter from people fantasizing about a landing spot. And then there's Kimi Antonelli, a 17 year old junior driver who skipped FIA F3 after winning two regional F3 series last year (just as well; it's all the same people really). I've seen plenty of him last year and he's, you know, pretty decent looking I guess but suffers from the same lack of capability to set up a pass that many junior drivers have. He overtakes either when DRS is enabled or someone makes a mistake in front of him, which is fine, but probably not the skill set required to dominate at the F1 level. I could be very wrong, but that's my feeling on him. I think I know who is stepping in that car when Lewis is out.