Just weeks before the start of the new Formula 1 season, Kimi Antonelli finds himself dealing with thoughts that have nothing to do with quickly mastering his Mercedes — completely new, like all the cars on the grid under the latest technical regulations — but instead concern his private life, his heart and his emotions. The 19-year-old driver from Bologna has seen his girlfriend, Eliska Babickova, publicly announce that she has ended their relationship, which had been ongoing since late 2023.
Eliska Babickova explains the breakup with Kimi Antonelli: “I’m not hiding anything”
The 20-year-old Czech decided to publicly explain what happened — through a video posted on her Instagram and TikTok profiles — in order to prevent rumors about the alleged reasons behind the split from being taken as fact. “First of all, I want to say that I’m talking about this because I’ve always been honest with you on this platform and I feel like I’m not hiding anything,” Eliska began in the video. “Also, this is quite a recent topic, because throughout February Kimi and I were trying to figure things out. We weren’t very sure where we stood in our relationship, which is why I didn’t talk about it before.”
“So that’s why I’m speaking about it now, even though the rumors have been going around for a while,” continued the Czech, who was herself a high-level kart driver — winning the Italian Championship in the OK class in 2023 before stepping away from racing to focus on university studies. “I’ve seen so much speculation, false narratives, news and everything else, and that’s not fair. I want to clear things up so everyone knows and there won’t be any need for more of it. I think it’s really time for all of this to stop.”
“I decided it, our values towards the end of the relationship were very different”
The first point Eliska was keen to clarify is that she was the one who ended the relationship with the Mercedes F1 driver, and she explained the values-related reasons behind her decision: “Yes, we broke up. I was the one who put an end to the relationship because I felt that we were no longer aligned in our personal lives and in what we wanted for our future. Also, our values towards the end of the relationship were very different. That’s basically it, that’s why the relationship ended. There was no drama, nothing like that, no other man, no other woman involved, there was no cheating. And I think it’s completely wrong for anyone to assume that, because it doesn’t represent me or Kimi as people.”
Antonelli’s former girlfriend insisted once again on this point: there was no external “intruder,” neither now nor before. “It’s also very misleading about what our relationship was, it was never like that. And even though we had problems towards the end, other people were never the issue. That twists everything our relationship was about, and I don’t like that. I also want to say that I won’t say anything more about this breakup, this is the last time I want to talk about it. Obviously, if there’s something I really need to address I will, but you can stop making speculations, whatever they are, because now everything is clear and we can simply move on.”
The news arrives at a delicate moment for Kimi Antonelli, who is preparing for his second Formula 1 season with Mercedes in a year of major regulatory changes. While the spotlight will soon return to on-track performance, for now the young Italian driver must also navigate the intense public attention that inevitably surrounds both his racing career and his personal life.
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