Kimi Antonelli is an Italian racing driver, born in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, on 25 August 2006.

Antonelli established himself as arguably the hottest prospect climbing the ranks with a trophy-laded junior career, with Mercedes deciding to take the plunge in promoting him to Formula 1 as an 18-year-old as they shaped for the future.

Antonelli is the first Italian driver to have competed in Formula 1 since Antonio Giovinazzi in 2021.

Carriera

Antonelli made his Formula 1 race weekend debut at his home event - the Italian Grand Prix at Monza - as he took the wheel of the Mercedes W15 in FP1.

He quickly shot to the top of the timings, but his session lasted less than 10 minutes having spun into the wall at the Parabolica.

Nonetheless, that did not dampen Mercedes' enthusiasm over their junior team prospect with Antonelli announced as the F1 2025 replacement for Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton.

He took part in another FP1 session later that season in Mexico, his running once more ending prematurely after picking up floor damage when running over debris.

Storia

While the decision from Mercedes to name a rookie Antonelli as Hamilton's replacement sparked plenty of debate at the time, the Italian did get the call-up off the back of a stellar junior record.

A serial winner on the karting scene, Antonelli became a Mercedes Junior Team member in 2019 and his move up to single seaters from 2021 saw him win the Italian and ADAC F4 titles, followed by the Formula Regional European and Middle East crowns.

From there, Antonelli skipped Formula 3 entirely to link-up with Prema in Formula 2, his sole rookie season producing two wins and three podiums overall as he claimed P6 in the final championship standings.

Antonelli begins life as a Mercedes F1 driver with a reported net worth of around $2 million, with information on any sponsors or endorsements hard to come by.

Racing runs in the blood for Kimi Antonelli, his father Marco a well-known face on the sportscar racing scene with the AKM Motorsport team which he owns.

In an alternate life, Kimi could have ended up as an association football player, his father initially preferring this path for his son, though he took him down the karting route having realised that this was where his true passion resided.

Kimi's mother is Elisabetta Antonelli. It is not known whether he has any siblings.