Currently, the path of young talents to Formula 1 It is very clear and almost everyone is betting on a natural climb up the steps as they look for support from an F1 team academy.
After karting, the normal thing is to try your luck in the national F4 single-seater category like Italian or Spanish or German F4. then, formula 3 championships as the European Regional Formula. Until it’s time to take a chance on FIA Formula 3 and FIA Formula 2.
That is the natural way to go Formula 1, although there are many more. After the ‘case Max Verstappen’which debuted in F1 At 17 years old, FIA regulations were changed and access was restricted through super license points. What is clear is that you cannot reach F1 after only one year of experience in single-seaters, or if you are a minor. His case cannot be repeated and more stones need to be broken. Therefore, in that context, it is even more surprising to see the stars decide to take such a big step as the one that the great Italian jewel of the future will do, Andrea Kimi Antonelli (August 25, 2006, Bologna, Italy)Mercedes academy driver.
Undoubtedly, yours is the case that may be most similar to the expectation it generates Max Verstappen back in the day with Red Bull. And at this moment, it fully materializes, turning everything it touches into gold. And now, he is even rumored to replace Hamilton at Mercedes in 2025, something that seems complicated as he still needs to add experience and a lot of learning.
Prema, one of the best teams in the lower classes, announced at the end of last year the promotion of the talent Kimi Antonelli, directly from European Regional Formula, to Formula 2. Kimi will move to FIA F2 in 2024, skipping the previous natural step of FIA Formula 3, at the age of just 17.
A meteoric rise full of achievements
Kimi will arrive in Formula 2 this 2024 season after sweeping all the lower single-seater categories he’s been in. In 2021 he made his Italian F4 debut in the final races of the 2021 season and finished on the podium that year in the last three rounds. In 2022, he swept the Italian F4 championship in his first full year, with 13 wins in 21 races held.. And while he crushed the Italian F4 in 2022, he also won the German ADAC F4 title. Two crowns in the same year.
He started 2023 by winning the Middle East Regional Formula Championship and went to FRECA (European Regional Formula), where he won the title on his ‘rookie’ course. After that, in 2024 he will be behind the wheel of a Formula 2. A meteoric rise worthy of a champion with a long future.
Mercedes signed him when he was 12 years old
The pilot of Bolognaafter many years of the absence of Italian stars in F1, is the great hope of the transalpine country with 18-year-old Formula 3 driver Gabriele Minì (March 20, 2005, Palermo). Surprisingly, the two great Italian gems are not in the Ferrari academy. Minì is part of the Alpine academy, but more than anything else The case of Andrea Kimi, a huge talent from Bologna (near Maranello), on whom Mercedes bet from the beginning, is attracting attention.
Toto Wolff and the people of the star saw something special in Andrea Kimi Antonelli from a young age. They signed him to their junior program when he was just 12 years old. And Andrea Kimi did not disappoint. He won the CIK-FIA European Karting championship twice in a row (2020 and 2021).
Wolff called for calm
Now, in 2024, Andrea Kimi arrives in Formula 2 as one of the most promising talents for the future in the world. He will do so with the full support of Mercedes to continue growing, and knows that if he does well, he could have a place in the Brackley team in the short-term future in F1. after Lewis Hamilton’s surprising departure from Ferrari in 2025, although for that course he still needs other experiences with Mercedes client teams that will allow him to add kilometers.
“Kimi has been at Mercedes since he was 11 years old. He was in the youth program and his youth career was very successful”commented Toto Wolff, head of Mercedes, when asked if he could be Lewis’ replacement in 2025.
“I think the most important thing right now is to focus on F2. “I think we will start to think about him or unleash rumors in the media about him that will not help his F2 campaign,” he added about a driver that everyone places in Mercedes in the future. He has the makings of a champion, but he is still very young and needs filmmaking.
Why is his name Kimi?
Remember this name. Andrea Kimi has a lot to talk about. This is the hope of the Italian. And to Mercedes.
Italy was the last Ferrari championship with Kimi Raikkonen at the wheel. And now he dreams of a future Italian F1 champion with the same name. But there is no connection between the two. A family friend gave her father, Marco Antonelli, the idea to put her up Kimi as a middle name because it sounds nice next to Andrea. His parents knew that the boy would become a pilot. They saw it. And they didn’t doubt it. Even Andrea Kimi, who burns through stages at breakneck speed.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
