Charles Leclerc Makes a Candid Admission About Kimi Antonelli

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc revealed in an interview with Sky that he feels a certain affinity for the current Formula 1 World Championship leader, Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Bologna-born driver, who will turn 20 on August 25, dominated the first half of the world championship, heading into the summer break with a 50-point lead over Lewis Hamilton, who is second in the standings.

Aside from his teammate George Russell, Kimi’s biggest rivals are precisely the two Ferrari drivers: “If Ferrari doesn’t win the title, I’d be happy if Kimi won it,” Leclerc admitted candidly. “He’s incredibly enthusiastic; he reminds me of myself when I first started out.”

Leclerc trails Antonelli by 81 points and is now an outsider for the title, but he hasn’t given up yet: “I’m not thinking about the championship yet; I want to win another race. The work I’m doing is paying off. I don’t think my difficulties stem from Ferrari itself, but from this new generation of cars. In general, I have a rather aggressive driving style. I believe this has been a strength throughout my career, but with these cars, you sometimes have to be careful not to overdo it, because you risk losing out on performance.”

Both drivers chose Sardinia as their vacation destination: Leclerc docked his yacht, the Sedici, off the coast of Ogliastra, in Santa Maria Navarrese, while Antonelli headed to the area near Porto Cervo, in Arzachena at the Baja Sardinia resort. This is where the “Pista dei Campioni” kart track is located, where the driver from Bologna broke the lap record previously held by Leclerc himself, clocking a time of 42.827” compared to the Monegasque driver’s 43.00”. “He’s practically a regular here now. Every year we’re happy to see Kimi Antonelli return to our track, and every time he manages to leave us with something special,” the track wrote on its Instagram account.