Kimi Antonelli
Andrea Kimi Antonelli is an Italian racing driver who competes in Formula One for Mercedes.
Born and raised in Bologna, Antonelli is the son of sportscar racing driver Marco Antonelli. After a successful karting career—culminating in back-to-back victories at the direct-drive European Championship in 2020 and 2021—Antonelli graduated to junior formulae. He won his first titles in Italian and ADAC F4 in 2022 with Prema; in addition to becoming a race-winner in Italian GT3, he also won a gold medal for Italy at the FIA Motorsport Games. He then claimed both the Formula Regional European and Middle East Championships before progressing to FIA Formula 2 in, winning two races as he finished sixth.
A member of the Mercedes Junior Team since 2019, Antonelli signed for Mercedes in, replacing Lewis Hamilton to partner George Russell and becoming the third-youngest driver in Formula One history at the, aged 18; he achieved his maiden podium finish in his rookie season at the and became the youngest driver to set a fastest lap. Antonelli is contracted to remain at Mercedes until at least the end of the 2026 season.
Early life
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was born on 25 August 2006 in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. His father, Marco Antonelli, is a sportscar racing driver and owner of the San Marino–based AKM Motorsport racing team, who have competed in the Italian F4 Championship since 2022. He founded Antonelli Motorsport in 1993, who competed in several GT series, winning the 2018 Italian GT Championship. His mother, Veronica Antonelli, is a former employee of Poste Italiane and has worked in motorsport since 1997, helping Marco operate AKM. He has a younger sister called Maggie.Antonelli shares his middle name with the forename of Kimi Räikkönen—the 2007 Formula One World Drivers' Champion; Antonelli has stated that the name was given by Enrico Bertaggia to his father, who wanted his son to have a foreign name after "Andrea", and that he was not named after Räikkönen. He attended ITCS Gaetano Salvemini in Casalecchio di Reno, studying international relations and marketing, and learned to speak English during his race weekends. His father initially wanted him to play association football in Italy before entering him into karting, as he showed more passion for motorsport.
Junior racing career
Karting (2014–2021)
2014–2017: Career beginnings and international debut
Antonelli started kart racing at the age of seven and won championships in several categories of the discipline. After attending a summer camp with the Automobile Club d'Italia in 2014, Antonelli was scouted by Giovanni Minardi—the son of Giancarlo—who signed him to Minardi Management. He won the 2015 Trofeo Easykart Italia in the 60 cc class, progressing to win the Easykart International Grand Final that year from twenty-second on the grid; he also placed thirty-first in the WSK Final Cup in 60 Mini. Antonelli entered several major competitions in 2016, achieving top-three finishes in the Italian Cup and Trofeo delle Industrie, as well as the WSK Super Master Series in 2017. He won the third round of the Italian Championship that year at Battipaglia.2018–2019: International success as a Mercedes Junior
Signing to the Mercedes Junior Team in 2018, Antonelli won the WSK Champions Cup, South Garda Winter Cup, and ROK Cup International Final in the Mini class that year, as well as finishing runner-up in the Italian Championship. Antonelli progressed to OK-Junior—the premier under-15 international direct-drive karting category—in 2019, winning the South Garda Winter Cup, WSK Super Master Series,WSK Euro Series, WSK Open Cup, and WSK Final Cup, all with Rosberg Racing Academy. He entered his first European and World Championships that year, finishing runner-up to Marcus Amand at the former and fifth at the latter.
2020–2021: Dominance in senior classes
In 2020, Antonelli progressed to the senior direct-drive OK class, aged 13. Amongst finishing third at the South Garda Winter Cup and runner-up to Nikita Bedrin at the WSK Super Master Series, he won the European Championship on his senior class debut aged 14, as well as the WSK Euro Series and Italian Championship, all with Kart Republic. Antonelli retired from the final of the World Championship at Portimão with an injury; he collided with the stationary kart of Maya Weug in wet-weather conditions, suffering a broken left tibia and metatarsus. For his efforts in 2020, Antonelli was named the FIA Karting Rookie of the Year by the CIK-FIA.Returning for the 2021 season, Antonelli moved to the premier KZ gearbox class. Bidding to become the youngest-ever KZ World Champion—a record held by Max Verstappen since 2013—he finished fifteenth after taking pole position for the heats. He further took pole as a guest driver at Adria in the KZ European Championship. He successfully defended his European Championship in the OK class, dominating the season with five wins from eight races, and finished runner-up to Rafael Câmara at the WSK Champions Cup and WSK Super Master Series. Upon his graduation to junior formulae, Vroomkart opined that Antonelli's karting career "already classic anthology of a Champion".
Formula 4 (2021–2022)
2021: Junior formulae debut
Three weeks after he turned 15, Antonelli made his junior formulae debut in the fifth round of the 2021 Italian F4 Championship, driving for Prema at the Red Bull Ring. He finished as the highest-placed rookie in his first race and scored four points across the weekend. Antonelli scored further points in the following round at Mugello, before his breakout weekend in the final event at Monza. He finished second-place in race one after a race-long battle with champion-elect Oliver Bearman, and scored additional podiums in races two and three. Antonelli finished tenth in the overall standings after missing the majority of the season, and fourth in the rookies' championship with four wins in the category.2022: Maiden championships and gold medal
In preparation for his primary 2022 campaigns, Antonelli contested select rounds of the F4 UAE Championship. He finished third after qualifying on pole position for the non-championship Trophy Round, held in support of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In the main championship, he was originally set to only contest round three with Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema, but a positive COVID-19 test for Rafael Câmara saw Antonelli replace him in the season-opener for the main team. Antonelli secured three consecutive on-track victories, demoted to third in the latter following a post-race penalty. Also finishing second in race four, Antonelli led the championship after round one; he did not contest the second round, as planned. Accumulating a further podium finish in the final race of round three at Dubai—again being penalised from victory—Antonelli ended up eighth in the final standings after contesting two of five rounds.File:F4 Germany 2022 Spa Nr. 12 Antonelli.jpg|thumb|left|Antonelli dominated Italian F4 in 2022 with a then-record thirteen victories.|alt=Antonelli driving the Tatuus F4-T421 out of the pitlane at Spa-Francorchamps in the 2022 ADAC F4 Championship
In 2022, Antonelli remained with Prema in Italian F4, also co-signed by the Automobile Club d'Italia as a member of ACI Team Italia by virtue of winning the Supercorso Federale in November 2021. Antonelli retired from the lead of the season opener at Imola with a gearbox issue, having started on pole position. He received front wing damage after clipping a kerb in race two, and was penalised for a collision with teammate James Wharton in the final race which demoted him from fourth to tenth. His fortunes changed with two wins in the next round at Misano, followed by six consecutive victories at Spa-Francorchamps and Vallelunga which propelled him to lead the standings ahead of Rafael Câmara. Further wins at the Red Bull Ring and Monza consolidated his championship advantage, and he clinched the title by winning the first race at Mugello. He won the remaining two races of the season, having secured a then-record thirteen victories.
File:F4 Germany 2022 Spa Podium Race 1.jpg|thumb|right|Antonelli further claimed the ADAC F4 title, followed by a gold medal at the FIA Motorsport Games.|alt=Antonelli lifting his trophy after winning at Spa-Francorchamps in the 2022 ADAC F4 Championship, between Rafael Câmara and Charlie Wurz
In parallel with his Italian F4 programme, Antonelli also competed in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship with Prema. He seized two victories in the first round at Spa-Francorchamps, before taking all available wins, pole positions, and fastest laps at the Hockenheimring. At the third round in Zandvoort, Antonelli added further consecutive wins in the opening two races before missing out on another clean-sweep by 0.058 seconds in the reverse-grid final race, finishing second to Conrad Laursen in a photo finish. After missing the penultimate event at the Lausitzring with Prema, Antonelli clinched the championship with one race to spare, having taken victory in the first two races during a rain-affected final round at the Nürburgring. Following his titles in Italian and ADAC F4, Antonelli represented Team Italy in the Formula 4 Cup discipline of the biennial FIA Motorsport Games at Paul Ricard. After taking pole position, he won both the qualifying and main races whilst driving with a broken left wrist—owing to a collision near the end of qualifying—to take the gold medal and secure Italy's victory in the overall medal table. He subsequently received a grant from chassis manufacturer KC Motorgroup to support his 2023 campaigns. Following the win, Antonelli stated that he experienced "a lot of pain" and not properly", adding that he had to take painkillers to continue. Antonelli graduated F4 with 26 wins, 24 pole positions, and 37 podium finishes in 57 appearances, becoming the second-most successful driver in the history of the discipline.