Kimi Antonelli hints at a future with Ferrari and thanks… Jannik Sinner

Andrea Kimi Antonelli doesn’t rule out a future at Ferrari: “Right now, I’m happy where I am. I’m thrilled to be at Mercedes, partly because I feel I owe them a debt of gratitude for all the opportunities they’ve given me. As for the future, I’m keeping my options open.”

“They were the ones who believed in me when I was only 12 years old,” he emphasized, speaking of the Anglo-German team with which he made his F1 debut. “They’ve supported me on this journey of growth, and I hope to achieve many successes with them in the future. We’ll see what happens. I’m not ruling anything out, but right now the goal is to win as much as possible with Mercedes.”

In the interview with AutoMoto.it, he also discussed his relationship with Sinner and Bezzecchi, who were present at Monza: “It’s wonderful to have friends in sports who understand what it means to handle the pressure; they give you extra motivation to do even better. I’m happy to see them win, and I’d like to do the same—if not better—even though it’s hard to do better than Sinner.”

Kimi’s idol, however, remains Valentino Rossi. “Very often, Vale would win races even before he hit the track. He was mentally very strong. It would be great to experience that feeling.”

He commented on his rivalry with George Russell. “There’s a lot of competition between us,” Kimi said. “I won’t deny that we want to beat each other every time we go out on the track, but there’s always respect between us. Our relationship has changed since last year, but it remains positive because we both know how important it is to maintain a good atmosphere within the team. The last thing we want is an internal rift. We’re not best friends, but I think George is a tremendous driver—very well-rounded and extremely fast.”