Despite Valentino Rossi’s Early Influence, Kimi Antonelli Chose Race Cars for His Parents’ Sake

Despite Valentino Rossi’s Early Influence, Kimi Antonelli Chose Race Cars for His Parents’ Sake

Andrea Kimi Antonelli is one of the most promising young talents in Formula 1. Due to the massive influence MotoGP star Valentino Rossi had on his career, Antonelli was keen to follow his hero and take up motorcycle racing. However, due to his parents’ sake, he eventually chose car racing.

Rossi was one of the mentors for the young Italian driver as he was climbing up through the ranks of motor racing. Despite being surrounded by world-class riders, including modern-day MotoGP stars like Pecco Bagnaia and Marco Bezzecchi, Antonelli remained committed to cars instead of motorcycles.

And he now believes that he can’t make a switch to motorcycles even if he wants to. Antonelli said in a recent exclusive with gazzetta.it,

“It’s better to avoid it. My parents have always preferred me to race by car, and at the moment, trying isn’t even the ideal choice“.

Kimi Antonelli’s first interaction with Rossi happened through a simulator group, which included young talents from the Moto GP star’s VR46 Riders Academy. While Rossi himself had never taken part in four-wheeled racing at that point, he quickly recognized Antonelli’s talent and invited him to Misano during the early days of his transition from MotoGP to car racing.

As they got to know each other better, Rossi began offering guidance to Antonelli, not just on racing lines but also on the mindset needed to become a top competitor. He even invited the young Italian to his famous ranch, where he used to train young MotoGP talents and that is where Antonelli started building friendships with the likes of Bagnaia and Bezzecchi.

However, Antonelli’s decision to pick car racing over motorcycles has paid off as he has now received an F1 seat with Mercedes, which is arguably one of the top teams in the sport. The Silver Arrows recognized Antonelli’s talent very early on.

By the time Mercedes officially hired him as their junior driver in 2019, the young Italian had already won nine karting championships, with one runner-up result and three third-place finishes.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
Andrea Kimi Antonelli Lewis Hamilton Mercedes F1 team Valentino Rossi

About the author

Veerendra Vikram Singh

Veerendra Singh is a senior Formula 1 journalist at TheSportsRush, with a passion for the sport that goes back to 2008. His extensive coverage and deep understanding of the sport are evident in the more than 900 articles he has written so far on the sport and its famous personalities like Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Toto Wolff, Charles Leclerc and more... When he's not at his work desk, Veerendra likes to spend time with his two feline friends and watch races from the Formula 1 and MotoGP archive. He is always up for a conversation about motorsport so you can hit him up anytime on his social media handles for a quick word.

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