Kimi Antonelli: A friend reveals an interesting behind-the-scenes story: “His mother wasn’t convinced at all.”
The name “Kimi” isn’t particularly common in Italy: according to ISTAT data, fewer than 200 children have been given that name in the last 20 years, but one of them has just won the Formula 1 World Championship. Kimi Antonelli became world champion at age 20 (the youngest ever), 73 years after the last Italian to achieve such a feat.
In an interview with *Famiglia Cristiana*, former race car driver Enrico Bertaggia—a close friend of the Antonelli family—revealed some behind-the-scenes details about the new world champion’s name: “It was the summer of 2006; we were on vacation in Riccione. During the relaxed chatter of a dinner with friends—including Marco and Veronica, the mother of
Kimi’s mother—who was well into her pregnancy, so much so that we joked that it looked like there was a helmet inside that beautiful, big, round baby bump.”
“During the conversation, I asked, ‘But if a future race car driver is born, what should we name him?’ Marco replied, ‘I don’t know, what do you think?’ I ventured, ‘I like Kimi—it’s short and sounds good with a long last name. I would never have suggested names like Ayrton—that would have seemed outrageous to me—but I really liked Kimi. Dad approved, but Mom wasn’t convinced at all: ‘What kind of name is that? Come on, I want to call him Andrea.’ We laughed about it.”
In the end, Mom Veronica and Dad Marco decided on a name they both liked: Andrea Kimi Antonelli: “When we first started going karting together—he must have been about five years old and was driving a minikart, the kind for kids,” Bertaggia continued, “and he was right behind us in our more powerful karts: he already had that natural talent that later developed.”
“We’re talking about a very professional athlete; he has a trainer who works with him every day, and he eats right. I hope he wins at least ten world titles—only then will I be satisfied—and that he earns well, too; why not? But most of all, I hope he never changes the wonderful person he is,” concluded the former driver.
