Antonelli Makes History

“Everyone was crying!” A touching scene after the F1 victory

Kimi Antonelli is the world champion! The young Mercedes star celebrated with his team and his family.(Bild: Krone-Collage/AFP/DANIEL BECERRIL, AFP/ALFREDO ESTRELLA)

“Everyone really was crying. My family made so many sacrifices to get me here!” Kimi Antonelli did it: After the young Mercedes star clinched the Formula 1 world championship, there was no holding back.

The hugs were heartfelt. After their son’s world championship victory, Kimi Antonelli’s parents, Marco and Veronica, also embraced Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. The Viennese executive had not only supported Antonelli since he was twelve years old, but last year he also entrusted him with the cockpit at the top team that had become vacant following Lewis Hamilton’s departure to Ferrari. The then-18-year-old had no Formula 1 experience at the time. After a year of learning the ropes, he is now their youngest champion.

“I’m just so proud of the whole team for believing in Kimi from the very beginning,” Wolff said on Sunday on Sky after the title was clinched in Mexico. In his first year, Antonelli had finished well behind his teammate George Russell. Doubts were raised as to whether the Italian might have been better off gaining F1 experience with a smaller team. “We knew it was going to be a difficult year,” Wolff recalled. “But we looked at the data and we trusted it.”

The Austrian mentioned not only the engineers’ support for Antonelli but also that of Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius. “For me, the most important thing was that Ola, my partner here, always believed in it,” Wolff emphasized. The crowning moment for his longtime protégé then unfolded in a way that was “somehow surreal,” the 54-year-old described. Until the end of the race, he had been in “business as usual” mode. “Then, on the way to the podium, it totally shifted into emotion.”

“My family has made so many sacrifices”
At the baseball stadium, through which the track in Mexico City runs, Hamilton was Antonelli’s first to congratulate him. “He’s a great guy; he really deserves this,” said his Mercedes predecessor, who hopes for more head-to-head battles in the coming years. After words of praise from race winner Max Verstappen, Antonelli headed over to his family, still wearing his helmet. In addition to his parents, his little sister Maggie had also traveled to Mexico.

“Everyone was really crying. My family made so many sacrifices to get me here,” Antonelli recalled. “It’s been an incredible journey with the team and with my family.” Now he’s trying to keep winning. “The way we’ve progressed this season and pulled everything off has been truly extraordinary.”

Antonelli Now
 Without PressureThe rising star from Bologna has won nine of the 19 World Championship races so far, celebrating his first five GP victories in a row. Four races remain this year, with the next one coming up this Sunday in Brazil. “My life will be a little easier now,” Antonelli said, referring to the pressure that has been lifted by winning the world championship title. “Now we’re going to enjoy the rest of the season.”

His father, Marco Antonelli, was impressed by his son’s resilience. “Last year was a difficult one for him. He found the strength to bounce back, and this is the result.” It will take him a few days to truly realize what has happened, said the 62-year-old, himself a race car driver and team owner. “It’s been a special journey from the very beginning—from karting to now. Thanks also to Mercedes. Without them, it would be impossible to be standing here now.”