Andrea Kimi Antonelli will experience his first home F1 race in this Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix when the Mercedes rookie heads to Ferrari’s backyard, Imola.
The Bologna boy is going home to Italy this weekend in round seven of his maiden campaign in Formula 1. Antonelli can even become the first Italian to win an F1 Grand Prix for 19 years after Mercedes took their 18-year-old academy product to replace Lewis Hamilton this term.
No Italian has won any F1 race since Giancarlo Fisichella won the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix with Renault for the European nation’s 43rd victory in the pinnacle of motorsport. No Italian has also registered a Grand Prix pole since Fisichella at the 2009 Belgian GP for Force India.
Antonelli is the youngest-ever F1 pole sitter, though, after the Mercedes racer set the fastest lap time in Sprint Qualifying in Miami last time out. He even boasts the records for being the youngest driver to lead and set the fastest lap in a Grand Prix, both of which he did in Japan.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli has no regrets about turning his back on being a Ferrari fan to join Mercedes after Toto Wolff’s call
Now, Antonelli will hope to enjoy a strong result in his first Formula 1 race on home soil with Mercedes in the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola. But doing so could see the teenager upset the Tifosi, of which he was once a part as Antonelli was a Ferrari fan before he joined Mercedes.
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Yet the Emilia Romagna native has no regrets about turning his back on the Scuderia to join the Silver Arrows’ driver academy as a kid. Antonelli grew up only 28 miles from the Ferrari factory in Maranello, but could not turn Mercedes down after a phone call from Toto Wolff.
Antonelli said, via quotes by Motorsport.com: “I definitely supported Ferrari before joining Mercedes. I have to say that in the end, in 2017, when I received the call from Toto Wolff, we didn’t think twice about accepting.
“It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, and I have to say that when you get an opportunity like that it is very difficult to say ‘No’ to consider other opportunities. When the call came, we all said ‘Yes’. And looking back, we can say that we are very happy about it.”
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As well as supporting Ferrari as a kid, Antonelli raced with a karting team that the Scuderia backed during his formative years. But despite the Maranello natives’ support for Tony Kart, Ferrari did not make great efforts to sign Antonelli before Mercedes made their approaches.
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Yet the Bologna boy has not shut the door on one day driving for the pride of Italy, should a chance ever arise for Mercedes rookie Antonelli to drive for Ferrari. The Silver Arrows have supported Antonelli since his early years in go-karts and throughout his single-seater career.
He added: “I am truly grateful for all the opportunities and also for the support and trust that the team has given me, such as getting into the car starting this year. So, I have to say that at the moment I am very happy with where I am. However, in the future, you never know.”
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