Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has become the first Italian to win a Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship since Alberto Ascari claimed his second title in 1953, and the breakthrough came after some pointed advice from fellow Italian F1 great Riccardo Patrese.
Patrese, who raced in F1 from 1977 to 1993 for teams including Benetton, Williams and Brabham, won six Grand Prix during his career, among them the 1982 Monaco Grand Prix. He has known Antonelli’s family for years.
“Kimi is a very good friend of my family, and we are friends of Kimi’s family as well. So we’ve known each other very well for a long time,” Patrese told OutKick over Zoom, while promoting Jackpot City Casino. “So in the end, to see Kimi be world champion is a fantastic feeling because, for me, it’s like [having] another son.”
That relationship, combined with Patrese’s own 256 Grand Prix starts, gave him standing to offer the young driver a piece of advice early in the season, centered on the fact that Mercedes had built the strongest car on the grid.
“I said to him, ‘Look, Kimi, you have to be really world champion this year because it’s an important [year],'” Patrese recalled. “Because at the beginning of the season, Mercedes was the best car, the strongest car, and of course … you never know if next year it can be the same.”
Antonelli appeared to take the message seriously. The 20-year-old capitalized on Mercedes’ early advantage with a run of five straight wins in the spring, building enough of a points cushion to hold off rival teams as they closed the development gap later in the season. He clinched the championship earlier this month in Mexico City.
The achievement is notable not only for Antonelli’s age but for what it represents in Italian motorsport. Before this title, the best finish by an Italian driver was second place, achieved by Patrese himself in 1992.
Patrese said Antonelli’s championship is already having an effect on the next generation of Italian racers.
“We have other young talented drivers in Italy, but now that Kimi is world champion, it automatically [gives] enthusiasm, and motorsport in Italy is growing. It also happened with [Jannik] Sinner, a tennis player, [when he] became number one. Now everybody wants to play tennis, and let’s hope that now everyone wants to be a racing driver.”
