Kimi Antonelli checks his smartphone for the day’s schedule, promptly sent by Mercedes’ media managers. There are twenty-four hours left until his Formula 1 debut, the time zone difference is now behind him, and the early departure for Melbourne was dictated precisely by the need to align as quickly as possible with Australian timings. “But will we really be able to do all this stuff today?” Kimi asks after reviewing the schedule. At nine in the morning, there is a media meeting scheduled with George Russell, Valtteri Bottas, and Toto Wolff, held on the St. Kilda waterfront at a facility overlooking the ocean. Antonelli arrives wearing the uniform that Mercedes has chosen for the 2025 race weekends.
“How am I doing?” Kimi asks with a certain pride. Then he steps onto the stage and from that moment begins a real tour de force. Once the media session is over, he heads to the track where a meeting with the engineers is planned. This is followed by the major operation required by the International Federation for all drivers before the season starts: the official photo, the first FIA press conference, a session for the team’s social media channels, an autograph session, a meeting with a group representing Australian football players, a meeting with his track engineer Peter “Bono” Bonnington, and attendance at an event with representatives from Mercedes Australia.
During the two media sessions of the day, Kimi Antonelli had to answer several questions about what it feels like to step into the shoes of Lewis Hamilton’s substitute. “I don’t want to come off as conceited,” confesses Kimi, “but I want to write my own story. I don’t know what the future holds, but I simply want to follow my own path.”
Antonelli doesn’t show it, but on Thursday he especially awaits the arrival in Melbourne of his family—dad Marco, mom Veronica, and his younger sister Maggie. They are staying at a different hotel than his, and in the morning he goes to pick up his family to head to the track. “Now that I have my license it seems only right, they’ve chauffeured me around for years.”
On Friday the alarm goes off quite early; at eight Kimi is in the gym with his physiotherapist, Sergj Avila. He is an important figure for Antonelli, playing a role beyond that of a driver to maintain peak physical condition. With only a few hours left until his debut in a race weekend, it’s time to ease some tension. “We always start with mobility exercises,” explains Avila, “then move on to some quick activation and visual exercises. It also helps us see if the sleep was proper.”
The lives of Formula 1 drivers are monitored by the “smart ring” (the dark-colored ring that everyone wears), a device that, among other things, reveals the time they fell asleep and when the alarm went off. “The sleep tracking doesn’t allow drivers to oversleep,” Avila admits with a smile, “they would immediately be exposed. For us it’s also interesting to monitor the heart rate and understand the quality of sleep.” “If we had one – comments Antonelli’s father, who has a long history as a driver – the ring would have flown out the window after just one minute!”
Attention to detail is obsessive. During the long journey from Italy to Melbourne, Kimi Antonelli and Avila decided to stop for one day in Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur. “It’s a way to adjust to the time zone more gradually,” explains Avila – the two flights were also chosen during the night to arrive at the destination in the early hours of the morning. Another aspect is obviously the diet, but on this front there are no issues: “Kimi is lucky to have a family that takes special care of their nutrition, so no problem.”
Upon arriving at the track, Kimi Antonelli discovers one of Melbourne’s characteristics. The drivers are among the very few authorized to drive on the internal roads of Albert Park, and once they reach their designated parking area they walk the “Melbourne walk,” the road that leads directly to the paddock and has become over the years the most coveted destination for the public. A kind of wall of passion, it has become one of the iconic features of the Australian weekend.
Tradition requires a stop for all the Circus celebrities, a stroll for autographs, photos, greetings, all in an atmosphere of exemplary order. “But how many people are there?” exclaims Kimi when he catches sight of the brightly colored queue formed by the fans. Everyone calls him by name; among the photos and autographs, there’s a girl who hands him a picture of Antonelli as a young kart driver. “Where did you get this?” Kimi asks, surprised. Some address him in Italian (“We’re not here just for Ferrari!”), and some ask him for a podium finish in Sunday’s race, a question to which Antonelli replies cautiously. “Maybe! It needs time.”
Kimi is overtaken in the process by Christian Horner, who seems to be less in demand than Antonelli, and after about twenty minutes he enters the paddock. The schedule is tight, with greetings to those present followed immediately by a first meeting in the engineers’ office. It’s striking to see an eighteen-year-old answer a series of very precise questions (a scene that will repeat in the evening and in the following days); everyone is wearing headsets and has a screen in front of them, reminiscent of NASA engineers monitoring a space mission. Once the briefing is over, Wolff arrives; there’s little time left until the first free practice session. “Everything alright, Kimi?” The approach is already different compared to the previous days; Antonelli nods, already in ‘track mode.’
The day flies by, and at the end of the FP2 session Kimi sums things up. “We’re looking good in the long-run,” he explains, “but with the softs I still need to get a good feel for the warm-up lap.” Mom Veronica gently pats his head. “That’s fine, but I still need to improve many things,” dad Marco points out, and Kimi Antonelli nods. Then there’s another meeting with the engineers. “It’s true that I raced on this track last year in F2,” Antonelli confesses, “but behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car it feels like a different circuit, everything changes. And even the tyres are completely different from those used in testing.” ‘Bono’ reassures him: “Good start,” yet it’s clear that Antonelli wants more.
Saturday morning begins with the usual fan shower at the paddock entrance, but it won’t be the highlight of the day. At 11:00, the strict schedule lists “fan zone,” and ten minutes early, Rosa Herrero, the media department person dedicated to Kimi, calls. “It’s time, let’s go.” A vehicle takes Russell and Antonelli to a large area with a stage where all twenty drivers take turns with Swiss-like punctuality. As they approach the destination, Kimi does something unusual for a Formula 1 driver. The cars have strictly darkened windows so as not to reveal who is inside, but Antonelli decides to roll down his window to greet the hundreds of people packed along the route. “But how many people are there? It’s really nice to see so many passionate fans, and almost all of them are young.”
Antonelli and Russell get on stage to an ovation. “It looks like a concert!” says Maggie, whom Kimi brought along to this event, hand in hand. Ten minutes of questions, a few quizzes with the audience, hat throwing, then back in the car and a return to the paddock for qualifying. It would be the most disappointing moment of Kimi’s weekend, being unable to make Q1 after damaging the car’s floor during a pass on the curb at turn 6.
Mercedes immediately rallies around Antonelli: “Don’t worry, it happens – that’s the chorus from the entire team – we’ll think about tomorrow.” Antonelli gives a slight smile, but his disappointment is all too clear; the fifth place he achieved in the FP3 session had suggested a different scenario compared to the sixteenth position in which he ended qualifying. “But if it really rains tomorrow…” comments dad Marco, his words proving prophetic.
On Sunday, the rain comes in earnest, strong enough to force the organizers to cancel the Formula 2 race. “What a disappointment,” comments Kimi, “coming to Australia and then not being able to race. Especially for those who were leading, it must be a real blow to head back to Europe without having been on track.” Formula 1 is luckier; in the afternoon the conditions are better. With just over an hour to go, the tension rises, both for Kimi and his parents. Only little Maggie seems calm, coloring a drawing on a table in the Mercedes hospitality area.
When the cars set off for the reconnaissance lap, mom Veronica retreats to the room reserved for Kimi. There are no screens; she will follow the race by watching only the live timing, a way to avoid being overwhelmed by tension. This choice is wise since it will prevent her from jumping out of her seat (like dad Marco) when Kimi becomes responsible for a back-marker incident after putting tyres on the grass at the exit of turn 3. But from that moment on, the news is all excellent: Antonelli’s comeback takes shape lap after lap, the conditions remain very tricky but everything falls perfectly into place. Two laps from the end, Toto Wolff calls Kimi’s parents into the box; a couple of minutes pass in strict silence, then the checkered flag confirms Antonelli in fourth place. Hugs, pats on the back, big smiles, and then a sprint to the closed park waiting for Kimi.
The entire team, including Kimi, goes under the podium to pay tribute to George Russell’s third-place finish, then it’s time for the media. “I have to say that all the questions were pleasant,” Antonelli would later admit. Back in the Mercedes hospitality area, the most euphoric is Wolff, the one who had championed the choice of the young driver signed during his karting days. The few meters that separate the TV pen where interviews are held from the Mercedes hospitality area seem to stretch endlessly; everyone stops Kimi for a compliment, a pat on the shoulder, a “five” of esteem. Kimi has a smile for everyone, he thanks them, and he is almost overwhelmed by the high-density accolades from the insiders.
Once they reach their destination, Antonelli’s first comment says a lot. “Now I can say that I have erased Monza (referring to the off-track excursion in last year’s FP1), it was an incident that, in some ways, marked me, but it also served as a lesson. Ah, I hope you saw the overtake on Alex Albon, it wasn’t bad!” He smiles, is handed the race classification, takes a quick look then says: “Well, come on… there are some pretty good names behind me, aren’t there?”
The table reserved for the Antonelli family is the first one at the entrance of the hospitality area, and everyone who enters offers compliments. “What am I going to do tonight? I’ll sleep, on the plane, because we’re leaving immediately for Shanghai.” The joy over the weekend’s outcome will be savored more by the family, which has planned a few days of vacation in Australia; Kimi will succumb to sleep a few minutes after sitting on the plane. Shortly before, however, the last message of the day arrives, from Toto Wolff. “A nice message,” confesses Kimi, “with an ending in capital letters: ‘in the future, stay away from the white lines and the grass’. He must have been more scared than I was…”
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