Kimi Antonelli reveals the background of Valentino Rossi’s ranch visit
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The Formula 1: between Friday and Sunday the engines are reignited with theMiami GP. The real surprise of this season so far is Andrea Kimi Antonelli: in his second year in the category, the young talent is leading the championship with 72 points and has collected two victories and three podiums at the first rounds of this season. The Mercedes standard bearer made no secret of his excitement for the American appointment to Gazzetta dello Sport: “When I packed my bags to come here I was very excited. The break was long and knowing I would be back on track gave me great feelings, however, I am very calm: I know I still have a lot to prove, but I feel really good about the car.”
The driver from Bologna also mentioned a behind-the-scenes look at the start of the season: “In Australia Toto Wolff before the first race put me and George in a closet and explained this point to us very well: the team wants to come back to win the Constructors’ title, this is the priority,” Kimi said. We drivers race first and foremost for ourselves because we want to win and be the best, but it’s important to never forget about the team, because it’s because of them that we get the results.”
Despite the great competitiveness Kimi showed some shortcomings at the start, and in this long break he focused on how to improve: “I tried between 100 and 150 starts in the simulator and my arm was hurting so much from how many I tried.” This weekend, the Italian breathes a different air than other times: “Already this weekend we have come to a compromise to be able to manage it better and thus make a decent start.”
Kimi visited Valentino Rossi’s Ranch earlier this month. “I went to Vale’s Ranch with the other Academy guys and had a great time,” said the 2006 classmate. Marco Bezzecchi was there, too, and it was a good time to get all of us together. However, I was just a spectator, I can’t ride the bike and I just watched.” Finally, the 18-year-old said that the nine-time world champion has high regard for him, “Vale was very happy for me, he told me that he has been cheering a lot in the last few races and to keep doing what I am doing without worrying too much.”
