Kimi Antonelli rejected by Ferrari: Arrivabene explains why

Former Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene in an interview with Quotidiano Nazionale told about the time when Andrea Kimi Antonelli was rejected by the Maranello stable. In 2018, the family of the then 11-year-old driver from Bologna contacted the Prancing Horse about a possible engagement, but had no luck.

“In my last year at Ferrari, in 2018, Antonelli was 10-11 years old. At that time Ferrari did not yet have the structure to deal with such young kids. I speak not as a team principal, but in reference to the company. Then things in Ferrari are a little bit more complicated than other teams. You have to understand the context.”

“Even today it would not be so easy to put a talented 11-year-old boy under contract, as is for example Kimi Raikkonen’s son, Robin,” Arrivabene continued. “Also in 2018 we were committed to bring Leclerc into the car and even there it was hard, not everyone agreed, they thought he was too young. In any case, precisely because he is 19 years old and very strong I think he will have plenty of time to win a World Championship even while sitting in the Ferrari,” the former Rossa executive concluded.

In the current season, Antonelli has already scored five consecutive victories, the last of them at the Monaco Grand Prix, where he even achieved the Grand Chelem: pole position, fastest lap and victory leading from start to finish. After six races, his lead in the world standings is impressive: Lewis Hamilton lags 66 points behind, while George Russell pays 68.

Antonelli’s success has generated a real media and social phenomenon. In Italy, the so-called “Kimi-mania” has exploded: the number of his followers on Instagram has risen from 4.5 million in January to the current 6.9 million, making him the most followed driver of his generation, with a share of followers even higher than that of Italian champions of the caliber of Gianluigi Donnarumma, Pecco Bagnaia and Jannik Sinner.