Kimi Raikkonen recently touched upon his namesake, Kimi Antonelli. The former Formula 1 champion, in a recent interview, spoke about the promising Italian prodigy's ascent and expressed confidence in Mercedes' ability to quickly bring him up to speed.
Antonelli has been the talk of F1 in recent weeks. The Italian prodigy, who swiftly ascended through the junior ranks and is already making waves in F2, was recently signed by Mercedes to replace Lewis Hamilton.
The 18-year-old will join George Russell at Mercedes next season and race under the experienced leadership of Toto Wolff. However, despite his impressive performance in F2, the Prema Racing driver still lacks sufficient F1 experience to compete for a top-tier team like Mercedes. Additionally, Antonelli will be replacing a driver like Hamilton, widely considered one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. In essence, there is significant pressure on the young Antonelli ahead of his full-time F1 debut next season.
However, Raikkonen believes that the Brackley-based team will effectively prepare Antonelli for his highly anticipated F1 debut. Here's what he said while speaking to F1.com:
"Yeah, I heard (about Antonelli). When we came here, somebody said that they announced it! It’s great. A lot of new faces, I think, coming next year, a lot of new drivers that have been signed to F1."
"It’s good for the sport, and it’s also great to have an Italian in the championship. It’s good for everybody, I think. I’m sure they know how to get him ready," he added.
Antonelli is currently competing in F2 for Prema Racing. He currently holds sixth place in the Drivers' Championship with 99 points and has two victories to his name so far this season.
"A friend of ours suggested Kimi" - Kimi Antonelli opens up about his connection with Kimi Raikkonen
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Kimi Antonelli recently discussed the connection between his name and Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari's last champion. In an interview with Motorsports.com, the young Italian racer clarified that the Finnish star wasn't the inspiration behind his name.
"It’s a bit of a strange story. My parents wanted to give me a foreign middle name but they didn’t know which one," Antonelli said. "In the end, Enrico Bertaggia, a friend of ours, came along and suggested Kimi because it went well with the first name and the last name. That’s how the name Andrea Kimi Antonelli was born."
Antonelli's full name is Andrea Kimi Antonelli, though he's more commonly known as Kimi Antonelli in the motorsport world. It will be intriguing to see if he can surpass the achievements of his namesake, Kimi Raikkonen, in Formula 1.