Andrea Kimi Antonelli has lifted the lid on the secret message of advice left for him by Lewis Hamilton in Mercedes’ hospitality unit, describing the note as “amazing.”

Antonelli was signed by Mercedes as Hamilton’s replacement last year following confirmation of the seven-time World Champion’s shock switch to Ferrari for the F1 2025 season.

Lewis Hamilton note discovered by Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Mercedes motorhome

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The 18-year-old has made an impressive start to his rookie season and set pole position for the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix earlier this month.

It emerged at the end of last year that Hamilton left a note for Antonelli in his driver room inside Mercedes’ hospitality unit, which was used for the final time by the 40-year-old at last year’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the final European race of the 2024 season.

Hamilton wrote an emotional tribute to his driver room on social media at the end of the Italian GP weekend, admitting his imminent Mercedes exit had brought out “a lot of emotions.”

Mercedes’ motorhome is making its first appearance of the F1 2025 campaign at this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola – close to Antonelli’s hometown of Bologna – marking the first race of the European season, with Antonelli viewing Hamilton’s note for the first time.

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Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com in Thursday’s FIA press conference at Imola, Antonelli declined to share the contents of Hamilton’s message, only hinting that it included some “advice” for his own F1 career.

He said: “Unfortunately you guys cannot see, but I think it tells a lot on how Lewis is as a person.

“I could see a lot of the human side of Lewis, not only the driver. And reading the message, it fulfilled my heart to receive such a message from such a figure in the sport.

“He has done so much and he’s still right there, giving his best.

“He’s one of the best in history and to receive such a message, of course it’s amazing.

“And of course, also in the message it contains some advice. I use it as a motivation as well, to go out there and and do my best, because it doesn’t happen every day.”

Asked if he will keep Hamilton’s note, Antonelli replied: “Yeah, it’s actually on the wall.

“I’ll keep it there because I think the message is so nice that I just want to leave it there, because every day I enter the room I can see the message.

“It’s also a really good reminder.”

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Bradley Lord, the chief communications officer of the Mercedes team, offered a clue over the contents of Hamilton’s note during an appearance on F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast at the end of 2024.

And he revealed that the team took steps to ensure that Hamilton’s message will remain in place “forevermore.”

He said: “I walked into the room and on the wall there’s quite a long, handwritten note.

“It was a note to Kimi and it was basically welcoming him to his new room, wishing him the best of luck, saying some really nice things about the team and how ‘if you care for them, they’ll care for you because they’re a great team.’

“I thought: ‘Wow, what a nice thing to do.’

“And actually, we’ve had glass cut and it’s now covered in the room so it will be there forevermore.”

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