Kimi Antonelli: How the Mercedes driver’s popularity soared in Italy as he leads the F1 title race | F1 News

Kimi Antonelli is not only adapting to become a Formula 1 title contender, but he is also carrying the hopes of the motorsport-crazy nation of Italy into a sporting summer.

The 19-year-old defied pre-season expectations and completed four of 22 rounds to move 20 points clear of Mercedes team-mate George Russell at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.

Antonelli claimed a third successive win last time out in Miami despite Mercedes, unlike their rivals, holding back their first major upgrade package of the season for the next round in Canada, suggesting the Silver Arrows are well placed to stay at the top of the field all year.

Russell was seen as the clear favorite to keep Mercedes’ title hopes alive, but after winning the season opener in Australia, the 28-year-old Briton was largely outclassed by his much less experienced team-mate.

After Antonelli’s first two wins in China and Japan, a forced five-week gap due to race cancellations in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia gave him plenty of time to build on the hype, but perhaps the best performance of his young career in Miami took the excitement for the teenager to another level.

Mercedes coach Toto Wolff has already expressed concern about his belief that Italy’s absence from this summer’s World Cup will place Antonelli and tennis world number one Jannik Sinner, who will attempt to defend his Wimbledon title in July, in a stronger spotlight.

“The bigger problem is the Italian public,” Wolff said after Antonelli’s win in Miami. “Now they are not eligible to play football so it is all about Sinner and Antonelli. They are two superstars and that is something we have to contain.

“There are too many requests for his time from the media and sponsors. Now it is up to us to keep the handbrake on. The risk is that he is dragged on too quickly.”

According to Wolff’s comment: Sky Sports F1 We spoke to Italian racing driver Vicky Piria, who has followed Antonelli’s development closely. sky sports italyFind out how high the excitement level is in Italy ahead of an intense summer of action.

How did Italy react to Antonelli’s third win?

call: It got rough! For Italians in the industry, we could see it coming. Even in the difficult times last year, there were so many good things. So honestly, I knew it was coming, but I didn’t expect it to come this early in the championship.

For people who aren’t that interested in F1 and are just starting to get to know Kimi, this is a real shocker. Kimi was introduced to everyone a year ago as a young boy who had just graduated from school and was trying to make his way in the world.

Clearly he has a lot of talent. Because otherwise he wouldn’t have signed with Toto Wolff when he was 12 years old. But I don’t think anyone expected this much to happen.

It was amazing, it was great, and he was truly loved not only by the younger generation, but also by the older generation who were old enough to be his parents and even grandparents!

Is he transcending Italian F1 fans?

call: Italian motorsport fandom is really different from British fandom. Because there are a lot of teams in England. Some people support McLaren, Red Bull and Aston Martin, while others support Lando Norris, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. A lot of British drivers, a lot of UK-based teams.

I’ve always seen F1 fandom in the UK is a bit more diverse in how people support what they like, but in Italy it’s just Ferrari and people are obsessed with it.

When Enzo Ferrari said, ‘If you ask a child to draw a car, he will draw it red.’ That’s the thing, and I think the focus has always been on Ferrari.

But with Ferrari already failing to win, things have changed a bit, especially with the younger generation starting to look elsewhere. There were a lot of Max Verstappen fans in Italy last year.

The younger generation, who did not see Michael Schumacher win five titles, support Ferrari but are more open-minded. But I think Kimi also has an older generation that has always been a Ferrari fan and they are passionate about this kid and what he can do.

When people stop me on the street, they are surprised and ask, ‘Is that person really that nice?’ ‘Is he really doing this?’ People still can’t believe it.

How does his popularity compare to that of Jannik Sinner?

call: If you watch Italian TV, there’s literally a commercial with Jannik Sinner every 30 seconds.

It’s definitely early days for Antonelli. Sinner won Wimbledon and he is ranked number one in the world. But if Kimi keeps up this pace, I’m sure it won’t be long before that happens, especially with F1 being so popular right now. He is becoming a superstar.

One example of what I think people like about Kimi is when he went to Imola to watch the World Endurance Championships during the five week break he had before Miami and everyone saw it.

But the following weekend, I was racing at Imola, the Italian GT Championship, and my father came to see me because he was running one of the teams. And even though the circuit was full of people following him around, he still behaved like a normal kid.

But he no longer exists. I can’t go karting or go watch my dad’s team race like I used to, and I think I’m facing that fact now.

Is interest heightened by Italy’s World Cup exit?

call: It was such a huge disappointment for everyone not to qualify for the World Cup, it was a terrible disappointment.

Summer has something to look forward to, not the World Cup, but F1 and tennis.

Italians become fans right away. And when you think about MotoGP and seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi and that movement, it’s amazing how quickly it has grown.

The only difference is that if you compare MotoGP to F1, your addiction to Ferrari is much more important than your fandom to Ducati.

Does Italy now expect Antonelli to deliver the drivers’ title?

call: No one talked about the fact that Kimmy won the title before the season started. Despite the fact that everyone knew that Mercedes had the best car, especially in the first part of the championship.

If you asked me in February who they thought would win, they wouldn’t have said Kimmy, they would have said Georgie, Max or Lando.

In Italy, everything is very passionate. So often you love the team or you love the driver a lot, but when there are setbacks, Italians are really passionate about that too.

So I have high expectations. But I think Mercedes are reminding everyone that this boy is only in his second season and has skipped Formula 3 and is really young and talented but has a long way to go.

How does Antonelli’s support compare to Ferrari’s support at Monza?

call: I hope they support both, but I remember there was a lot of criticism about Kimi last year when he clashed with Charles Leclerc in Zandvoort.

Ferrari is a religion. But I think that will change. Especially now he is the championship leader. And I see young people really liking that guy.

There will always be some Ferrari fans who might be a bit disappointed if Kimi wins and doesn’t. But hopefully the new generation of fans will be much happier.

But it’s definitely a movement. When people stop you in a cafe to talk about F1 because they saw you on television, the question is usually ‘When will Ferrari start winning again?’ And it’s pretty boring because you don’t know what to answer.

Now the question is, can Kimmy really do it? He looks really nice.’ And I like it. It’s a different picture and it gets more fans involved.

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