Kimi Antonelli explains what he needs to change for the Italian Grand Prix after Imola F1 outing, ‘hurt me for the weekend’

Andrea Kimi Antonelli had the first of his two home races in 2025 and was greeted by a massive reception at Imola, with over 200,000 people attending across the three days.

The Mercedes driver was popular among attendees, with Antonelli also taking a load of his friends from school into the F1 paddock in the days building up to the race.

Having qualified outside of the top ten positions, Antonelli did well in the opening stages to get into the points and defend from Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

Antonelli would go on to retire from the race on Sunday after a suspected throttle issue on his car, although the Italian believes the weekend was a learning experience when speaking to Sky Sports.

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Kimi Antonelli thinks he needs more time for himself at Monza

Antonelli’s popularity has soared since he joined the grid as the youngest driver, particularly in his native home of Italy.

He is the first Italian driver since Antonio Giovinazzi in 2021, although the 18-year-old admitted that he found one aspect of the weekend challenging.

“Definitely, this weekend was really good learning. Especially because I think on my side I didn’t manage everything well, I didn’t take enough time for myself in most of the occasions,” said Antonelli.

“That kind of hurt me for the weekend, because I was just wasting energy on some occasions and that affected the performance going back into the car. So on that side, it’s a really good lesson, especially ahead of Monza.”

Kimi Antonelli told where he needs to improve by Toto Wolff

Antonelli has been told by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff where he needs to improve, before he starts getting preference over George Russell.

He impressed with his pole at Miami having beaten both McLarens, who were favourites to take pole due to their outright pace.

Antonelli would later find out how difficult it can be to hold on to a victory during the race, having been overtaken by Oscar Piastri with a forceful move.

It was still an impressive milestone for Antonelli, having outqualified George Russell for the first time in six races.