At the Trento Sports Festival, the young Italian driver spoke to a packed room of young fans enchanted by his cheerfulness and simplicity. Kimi Antonelli has captured the attention of motorsports, not only in Italy, with great maturity and amazing results, which have made him one of the future Formula 2025 Champions since signing with Mercedes for 1.
Kimi Antonelli tells his story: “As a child I was a Ferrari fan, now I only think about Mercedes”
“My passion comes from my father, who raced in Super Turismo and then founded his own team. And I remember watching a program on Sky, “Formula 1 Retrò”, and a race that remained etched in my memory was the duel in Dijon between Villeneuve and Arnoux. As a child I was a Ferrari fan and I was a big fan of Sebastian Vettel, but now I only think about Mercedes. I started with karts, at 3 years old the first time on my father's lap, but the first time I drove a Delfino I was 5 and a half years old. However, I didn't understand very early that I wanted to do this job, I was 11 years old when I decided I wanted to follow this path", Kimi begins on the stage of the Trento Sports Festival.
A path that immediately brought him to know high speed: "Where I have always immediately felt at ease. So much so that I feel much better with an F1 than with an F2", says Kimi interviewed by Gianluca Gasparini.
The first contacts with the Berkeley team and the entry into the Academy: “I signed with them in Monaco 2018, Toto Wolff invited me and my father. And I remember with emotion seeing the FP1 next to Totò inside the box. Toto had looked for me the year before, and at first we couldn't believe it, it wasn't normal. I have a beautiful relationship with him, he's like a second father to me, he even scolded me recently because I was a bit naughty. But I'm very happy to be with him”.
How Kimi Antonelli convinced Mercedes for 2025
The question that all fans have asked themselves at least once since the announcement of its Signs with Mercedes in Formula 1 in 2025 was: what led Mercedes to bet so much on Kimi Antonelli?In private tests they were very impressed by the speed with which I reached the limit and the speed at which I was prepared to lap times.”, Kimi said. “At the beginning I struggled a lot with the race pace, but in the last two tests in Spa I managed to improve this aspect significantly too. I also learned to anticipate the degradation of the tyres.”
“Once I improved these weak points, Mercedes decided to give me a single-seater for 2025. I feel ready for F1, but I will have to adapt to the procedures. Today in F1 you have a lot of data to look at and there is live telemetry. Putting aside the driver, I think the person I am has also made the difference, and this is thanks to my family”.
The latter immediately appeared to be a pillar of the frenetic and full-speed life of the driver from Bologna: "I have a great relationship with them, my mother is strict and often scolds me, especially about school. And then there's Maggie, my little sister. I've been away all the time since my karting days. After the announcement of my signing with Mercedes I admit that my life hasn't changed much." For Kimi, who drives a Formula 1 with ease, but still doesn't have a license, school is at the center of everything: "I have fantastic classmates, nothing has changed between us, but outside of class I have to say that a nice movement has been created. The teachers? Good, they help me, even if sometimes someone complains, because with this life it's difficult to make plans. But they've always treated me well."
Monza, the relationship with the other drivers
During FP1 of this year's Monza Grand Prix, Kimi made his official debut, which unfortunately didn't end as he had hoped: “That first lap was a unique emotion with all the people in the stands. Then I was… naughty. Now I will have two more opportunities in Mexico and Abu Dhabi. Russell? He wasn’t very happy, but before going out at Parabolica I was going strong. I have a good relationship with George, he didn’t give me great advice, but for now everything is fine. But next year I want to beat him”.
Hamilton's behavior towards him was pleasantly unexpected: "I didn't expect it, he's very kind and talks to me a lot. And his style is similar to mine, with the car understeering a lot. I was in Singapore and I learned a lot listening to him talking to the engineers. What I will have to get used to is hearing all the engineers in headphones, because I am someone who doesn’t talk much. But if they talk it is to give useful information, I will have to learn to manage this aspect and the procedures, if you touch the wrong button on the steering wheel it is a mess. In fact, I will soon receive a seat with a steering wheel at home to learn the starts and the various procedures. Also because you have to know where each button is without having to look”.
But it is Max Verstappen in everyday life who has surprised Kimi the most: "I spoke to him a few times and he is a great person, I like him a lot. We also raced against him on the simulator and he follows the minor categories a lot. On the track he is seen as very rigid, but off it he is very easy-going, normal".
The idol of all time and the butterflies in the stomach
The teammate he would like to have? His idol, Ayrton Senna: “I did a lot of research on him and I understood that he was not only a great pilot, but a great person. And I like to think that I am similar to him in that. If I could, I would love to have him as a teammate, it would be very difficult, but I would learn a lot”.
It's not easy to enter the Circus at just eighteen years old, especially if you're driving a Mercedes, replacing a seven-time World Champion and on the track you have to deal with opponents of a certain caliber. Kimi is still incredulous that he will take to the track with a Mercedes in 2025: “I haven’t realised yet that I will be taking part in next year’s Formula 1 championship, maybe in Melbourne. It will be very exciting, but at the moment I am only thinking about working on myself. It will certainly be important to stay calm. How? You try not to think about anything other than what you have to do, you focus on the start and try to visualize the various situations. There will be butterflies in my stomach but I try to concentrate on what to do”.