Maybe it’s the fact he’s 18, or maybe it’s the home atmosphere (he lives just half an hour from the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola), but for Andrea Kimi Antonelli one of the most important weekends of his career—so far—is about to begin.
You never forget your first home race. It’s no coincidence that he invited his high school class to the track. A way to feel even more at home and get the right motivation to tackle Imola, his favorite circuit of all.
Today, Motorsport.com had the chance to participate in a roundtable with selected media and the young Italian talent who this year represents Mercedes. We waited for him at the hospitality area of the team led by Toto Wolff (who is currently in Los Angeles for his son’s graduation) under a typical May sun in Emilia: hot. Very hot. But also bright, bringing out the green of the softly rolling hills that surround the track.
The paddock, still relatively quiet with little foot traffic, is bustling with drivers in their media sessions. Andrea emerges from a nearby office and is beaming. The home atmosphere, Bologna’s victory in the Coppa Italia, and Imola—a place he knows well—clearly make him more energized than his peers we’d met earlier (Max Verstappen, a Oscar Piastri seemingly keen to avoid Netflix microphones, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Hadjar).
Wavy hair, official white polo, gray-green trousers, Adidas shoes. A firm handshake and he’s off, immersed in a whirlwind of questions. What impresses isn’t just what he says, but how he says it—his gaze confident, his words full of conviction as he answers questions looking you straight in the eyes.
Andrea, from Free Practice 1 in Monza last year to now, how have you changed?
“I must say I’ve grown a lot since Monza, both as a person and a driver. It’s been a great journey, especially because I’ve gotten to know the team better. I’ve had the chance to build a relationship with all the team members and it’s been a great experience. I try to improve each time and create even more positive moments together, and I hope this weekend can be one of them.”
How important was Miami for you?
“I’m much more aware of what I can do. Miami was great because it lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. I’ve always struggled in certain situations, and in Miami I managed to take the step I was looking for. There’s still work to do on the race itself, but I’ve changed a lot from the lower formulas. I’m more confident and in control now.”
What do you still need to make another step forward and improve?
“To be honest, I need to put the whole race weekend together. In the first six races, I either qualified badly and raced well, or the opposite. This will come with experience, but I need to be consistent from free practice through to the race. And there are still new situations I don’t know how to react to or adapt to. But I think with experience this will improve.”
At the start of the season, you said you still needed to fully exploit the qualifying tires. In Miami, things went very well with pole in the Sprint and third in Qualifying. Do you think you’ve figured it out?
“It depends on the track. I’m learning about the tires. Having the same compounds for two consecutive races, like Jeddah and Miami, helps a lot. What I learned in Jeddah I applied in Miami. I’m definitely working a lot on understanding the tires, and I’m getting better at it. In Miami I made a good step forward, but there’s still work to do. This weekend we’ll have a new, softer compound (the C6), which is new for everyone, and the tarmac is very different from Miami—so the tires will behave differently.”
In Miami, you qualified well but struggled in the race. What was missing in your tire understanding on Sunday?
“Miami was a very particular situation. There were a lot of marbles on the track. On the straights you picked them up without meaning to, and to clear them you’d need to push more, especially in the fast corners. I didn’t do that, especially on the hard tire. I was trying to preserve the tires, but the opposite happened. Instead of recovering at the end of the stint what I lost at the start, I couldn’t recover anything. I couldn’t get the tires working. Later, analyzing everything, I understood that I was collecting marbles but not pushing enough to clean the tire—so there was no grip because the rubber was working on marbles instead of the asphalt.”
Now we’re at Imola, a track you know better…
“We’re in the European phase of the championship, I know these tracks better but that doesn’t mean it’ll be easier. Others will be really fast. But it does change the weekend perspective, the approach I take on track. Knowing the track definitely helps a lot, the mindset will be different.”
Did you lose a lot of time learning the tracks earlier this season?
“I learned Miami quickly, especially because I had confidence with the car and could push closer to the limit. This weekend I won’t have to work so much on driving, so I can focus more on setup and have better chances in both qualifying and the race.”
What does racing so close to home feel like?
“I think this weekend will be really special for me. But emotionally and mentally it’ll be tough, because racing at home… I live half an hour away. This really is my home GP. My friends and family will be here. It’ll be emotionally… well, I’ll feel it. It’s important to stay calm and focused. In the end, it’s just another race.”
How do you balance pressure to get results with personal growth? And what are you trying to bring to the team?
“Starting with the last question—I’m trying to bring positivity. One thing the team told me, which I think is really nice, is that my arrival has been like a breath of fresh air. I try to bring energy and positivity. That’s just how I am, and I hope it spreads across the whole team. As for pressure, it’s not easy. I had to handle it from the start. Even as a kid, I had to deal with it. In F1 it’s a bigger step, and this is the home race—I’ll be in front of all the fans. But I can use that to do even better. And having the right people around you helps—having a team you grew up with, a great family that supports you. All these things help you get in the car more relaxed.”
Do you and Russell have similar setup styles or does each go their own way?
“Everyone has their own driving style. Some drivers are more similar, but between George and me, there are differences. The positive thing is that we feel very similar things in the car, and that helps the team improve over the weekend. If we felt completely different things, it would confuse the team—they wouldn’t know what direction to take. So far, we’ve always had similar feedback, and that helps the team progress.”
At times this year, you’ve been the second-best team. Where do you think the car still needs work? What’s the most obvious weakness you’ve noticed?
“First of all, I need to improve myself. I don’t feel ready yet to say where the car should improve because I still have to improve. But the car we have this year is very stable. That means, in some situations, the car has a lot of understeer. That makes things harder in long runs because it’s difficult to rotate the car, and you have to rely more on the rear tires to get the car turning on throttle. It’s a domino effect. By the end of the run, you’re struggling with both understeer and oversteer. But this stability also gives us a lot of confidence in the car. We’re working on it, and hopefully the updates for Imola will make the car even better. I’m very happy with the work the team has done. The updates were targeted and seem like they could really help. We’ll see on track, but I’d say that’s the main limitation.”
In recent months, you’ve tested several Mercedes F1 cars (including in TPC sessions). Is the W16 the easiest to drive?
“Yes, of the ones I’ve driven it’s definitely the one that gives the most confidence. It’s very stable, especially on entry. Sometimes it suffers a bit from bouncing, and that takes away confidence. It’s unpredictable—when you’re in a corner and get bouncing, you could lose it at any time, and that’s tough. But aside from that, we’ve rarely had bouncing issues. It’s easier than the one I drove in FP1 at Monza last year.”
What’s your favorite track?
“Imola for sure. A track I really care about. It’s not easy—it’s technical, old-school. Even though it’s not a street circuit, there’s very little room for error. I’m really happy to be on track here and see what I can do. I really like it—I’ve already driven here in an F1 car and I hope that helps.”
Over the past five months, you’ve gone from being nearly unknown to the public to being well-known. Have you noticed changes in your social circle, your friends? More envy? Some who’ve become closer?
“It’s changed a lot. But what I’m really happy about is that in my school friend group—there are five or six of us—nothing has changed. They treat me exactly the same, and I love that. They’ve always been the same. We met three years ago and built a great relationship. I was worried that, once I got to F1, they’d treat me differently. But that didn’t happen. And I’m really happy about that. They treat me like just another friend, and that helps a lot. In this world you can have your track friends, but it’s very easy to be alone outside motorsport. Keeping those friendships is essential, and when you can spend time with them after a race weekend, you come back to reality and disconnect your mind from motorsport. And that helps you come back even stronger.”
So, some of your friends are here this weekend…
“I invited the whole class and my economics teacher. They’re here today. It’s harder to move around now, but I have to say it’s also a beautiful thing—seeing so many people supporting you.”
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