Kimi takes advantage of the F1 weekend a stone’s throw from where he lives celebrating the victory of the Bologna Italian Cup, sleep in his bedroom and go to the circuit for the GP
Sleeping in your bedroom in Bologna, wake up and go to run the Formula 1 GP in Imola, 40 km. The quintessence of the home GP. Definitely for Andrea Kimi Antonelli this weekend will remain forever special, the first from F1’s official pilot for Mercedes, his first in Italy. The first after the world learned to know his name, thanks to the amazing performance in the Miami GP, where Kimi conquered the pole position of the Sprint qualification, amazing rivals and fans: he had never guided on the Florida track, yet he showed an adaptation capacity that hit everyone. Then the short race and the GP did not go as hoped, but it doesn’t matter, Kimi is acquiring notions to each race (the real seasonal goal) and shooting the first shots as soon as available. This is what the team asks him and he is doing it perfectly. Six races, five times in points and a Sprint pole: as a start from Sir Lewis Hamilton’s successor to Brackley, you can’t complain at all.
Good humor Bologna
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Meanwhile, yesterday’s victory in the Italian Cup of Bologna on Milan has already put him in a good mood: “Yes it was fun – he said – I was around I too to celebrate, but I was obviously not late. The city had gone mad, I had fun”. And after the Benagural (as a Bolognese fan) football event, today this particular weekend started: “Yes it is fantastic to be the Italian driver on the grid in Imola – said Kimi – This is really my home race because the track is just 30 minutes. And then it is a demanding track, old school, very fun to drive. In addition I will run in front of my family, to friends, I am enthusiastic.” He was also able to organize a visit to the pits for his classmates thanks to Mercedes: “Yes a nice way to keep in touch with them because I don’t see them often”. A turbine of sensations that Antonelli has not hidden to be potentially complicated to manage: “It is true that it is still a GP like the others, but certainly from an emotional point of view I will have to manage all these emotions without dispersing energy”.
Lewis’s letter
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Among these emotions there is also the letter that Lewis Hamilton, before moving on to Ferrari, left him in the Mercedes Motorhome room, the one that makes his debut in the European season. Antonelli had not yet read it and admitted that he was struck: “The fact that a winning driver like Hamilton thought of leaving a written message for me he says long about what person he is. He filled me the heart to receive a message from a pilot who won so much, one of the best in history, is fantastic. It also contains advice and I will keep it hanging there as a motivation to go on the track and do my best, memorandum”.
Podium
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As for the race weekend, Antonelli does not want to make too many expectations, aware of the strength of the McLaren: “I think Miami showed the real situation – said the Bolognese – I have much more confidence in the car than the debut in Australia, I feel comfortable and I understand better the tires. We have taken a step forward in extracting the maximum performance, especially in qualifying, I would give me a lot of confidence. But realistically if a podium arrived it would be wonderful, but I don’t talk about it because we are very superstitious in the family “. What is missing to win? “I don’t think I can be the Italian – I closed the Italian – I still have a lot to learn, the team does a great job, we are improving but the gap with McLaren is important. Here we will bring updates and I hope they help us, I have seen how motivated the team is, we want to continue like this”.
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