Kimi Raikkonen crowns Kimi Antonelli

Kimi Raikkonen crowns Kimi Antonelli

Kimi Raikkonen was present in the paddock of the Italian Grand Prix in Monza last weekend three years after the race of his retirement, the “infamous” Abu Dhabi Grand Prix of 2021. The Finn, last world champion behind the wheel of a Ferrari in 2007, was accompanied by his full family and could not fail to comment, exclusively for the F1 website, on the debut, albeit only in the first free practice session, of his Italian namesake Kimi Antonelli, who will be a Mercedes driver in 2025. Here are Iceman’s words.

“When we arrived at the track someone told me that his engagement had been announced. I think it is great because next year there will be a lot of new faces, a lot of young people who have signed up to race in F1. È good for the sport and è also nice to have an Italian in the championship. Good news for everyone. His debut? Well, I’m sure in Mercedes they will know how to prepare him in the best way. Today of course there are simulators, which weren’t there when I started. Back then, you just jumped in the car and drove off! I think now in many respects it is easier to move to F1, because it’s possible to do a lot of testing to prepare for the’debut. However, I wish all these young people all the best possible”.

Meanwhile, his 9-year-old son Robin, as formulapassion.co.uk also reports, is impressing in karts. “In recent years we have moved to Italy (near Lake Como, ed.), I have been a mechanic for Robin while Rianna does gymnastics and we have little Grace. A busy family life… My son? He is having fun, everything is going well but we will see. Whether something will come or not, nobody knows. The main thing forò è that he is having fun. My return to the paddock? È it went well! I visited many old friends and è it was good to be back. I can’t complain, although there’were obviously a lot of new faces in the teams we visited as well. Everything changes quickly” here.