Kimi Antonelli: The prodigy who began racing on his dad's lap at age 10

Kimi Antonelli, a 19-year-old racing prodigy, is making headlines in the 2024 Formula 1 season as he dominates the championship in only his second season. The Italian driver, known simply as Kimi, has been making waves since he was a child, with his father Marco Antonelli recognizing his exceptional talent early on.

The story begins when Kimi was just 10 years old. Marco, a former racing driver himself, took Kimi to the Adria circuit in north-east Italy. After a karting race, Marco strapped himself and Kimi into a Lamborghini sports car, with Kimi controlling the steering and gears while Marco managed the throttle and brake. Despite Kimi being too small to see the track, he handled the car with remarkable skill, impressing his father.

Marco Antonelli recalls the experience vividly. "I couldn't see the track because he was in front of me with a helmet on," he said. "I could only see beside me the marker panels before each corner - 100m, 50m. We started to drive, step by step, faster, faster, faster." Marco eventually stopped the car, concerned for Kimi's safety, but upon reviewing the video, he realized his son had a special talent.

Kimi's passion for racing started even earlier. Marco remembers Kimi, just 15 days old, being in the garage, hearing the sound of the engines and smelling the exhaust fumes. At the age of three, Kimi was already showing interest in racing simulators. Marco recalls, "Each evening, Kimi wanted to drive. Just like seven years later in the Lamborghini, Kimi would sit on my leg, the controls divided in the same way."

Despite his early talent, Marco Antonelli was initially hesitant about Kimi pursuing a career in motorsport. He had struggled during his own racing career, testing for Alfa Romeo and BMW in the 1990s but missing out on opportunities due to team changes. "I suffered a lot for it," Marco said. "And, of course, I was scared that my son [would] relive the same situation."

Kimi's talent, however, was undeniable. He tried go-karting for the first time at the age of five and immediately showed an understanding of racing lines, braking points, and car control. Despite financial constraints, Marco decided to fund Kimi's racing career, starting with karting and moving up through the ranks.

Kimi's impressive performances caught the attention of Mercedes, who signed him to their driver academy when he was just 11 years old. Max Verstappen, a four-time world champion, has praised Kimi's talent, saying, "When he was in karting, you could already see he was one of the stand-out talents."

Kimi's rapid rise through the ranks continued. He won the European Karting Championships in 2021, the Italian Formula 4 championship in 2022, and the Formula Regional European Championship in 2023. His performances have impressed Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, who saw Kimi as a potential replacement for Lewis Hamilton.

Wolff's plans took a dramatic turn when Hamilton decided to join Ferrari in 2025. Hamilton's departure opened the door for Kimi, who had not even driven an F1 car when Wolff made the call. Mercedes put together a testing program for Kimi, and his rapid progress has impressed the team's engineers.

Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said, "What you normally see with drivers is they're just incrementally going a little bit quicker, braking a bit later. If you compare with other drivers we've seen in an F1 car for the first time, the best I'd ever seen until..."

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