Vasco Rossi crowns Kimi Antonelli: "Vale is right "
“As always Valentino spoke a great truth with his usual simplicity. Kimi will give us a lot of satisfaction. He is the right one for something like this. He can make Formula 1 more pop … but also more rock!” Vasco Rossi, interviewed by Gazzetta dello Sport, agrees with Valentino Rossi about Kimi Antonelli. The two-wheel ace had said that the Mercedes talent will keep us entertained for a long time.
“Seeing Kimi win for two Sundays, first in China and then in Japan, was beautiful, clean, powerful. One of those things that has a beauty that doesn’t need much explanation. They’re just emotions that it’s nice to feel, I take this opportunity to also give him an official invitation: Kimi, if you want… you’re invited to one of my concerts,” added the rocker from Zocca.
Accordingly, Antonelli’s feeling with Japan has been extraordinary. The young driver from Bologna, who started from pole position at Suzuka, was able to make the most of the safety car exit to retake the lead after a difficult start, then closing with an unstoppable pace on hard tires. A success that propelled him to the top of the Drivers’ World Championship standings with a nine-point lead over teammate George Russell. At the end of the race, Antonelli commented lucidly, “I feel very good. Obviously it is still early to think about the World Championship but we are on the right track. The bad start? In these weeks I will focus on the starts that, as of now, are what is not going as I would like.”
The numbers certify the extraordinariness of the moment: Antonelli is the first driver under 20 to lead the Formula 1 drivers’ standings, doing better than champions of the caliber of Hamilton, Vettel and Verstappen. The last Italian at the top of the World Championship had been Giancarlo Fisichella in 2005, while to find an Italian steadily leading in the title fight we have to go back to Alboreto, De Angelis and the great Ascari.
It is not surprising, then, that compliments are coming in from every corner of Italian sport. Even Pecco Bagnaia, involved in the MotoGP World Championship, wanted to make his voice heard: “First pole and first win, so yes, I wrote to him. Obviously it is exciting an Italian going like this in Formula 1 and I am extremely happy for him and he deserves it.” Words that add to those of Jannik Sinner, who after his triumph in Indian Wells had dedicated the victory precisely to Antonelli, writing to him “Bravo Kimi” in front of the cameras of the Californian tournament.
On the boy’s future, Stefano Domenicali, Formula 1’s number one, also expressed himself: “Seeing such a young boy win a Grand Prix, as Kimi did in China, is something extraordinary, it’s good not only for him but for our whole sport. He will have a lot of pressure now, but he will have to get used to it.” Domenicali also opened a fascinating scenario, that of an Antonelli one day behind the wheel of Ferrari: “Of course, if he then went to Ferrari and became world champion it would put everyone in agreement.” For now, however, Kimi is just thinking about enjoying the moment and preparing as best he can for the next round, the Miami GP, after about a month of forced break due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia stages.
