Champion Kimi Antonelli back in Italy: “This is what I urgently need right now”

Kimi Antonelli has been back in his home country since the late evening of 9 November.

The Mercedes star flew back from Brazil on a private jet and spoke to the Italian media – as the youngest F1 champion and the first Italian Formula 1 world champion since Alberto Ascar in 1953.

Kimi says: “So much has happened, to be honest – I still haven’t quite realised that I’m world champion. It’s a massive deal.”

When asked when he actually realised he was well on his way to becoming world champion, the Bologna native said: “At Monza. That’s when I said to my team – let’s go and win this title! Before that, I’d tried not to think about winning the title as much as possible and just tackled one task at a time.”

And what now? Kimi laughs: “Well, I’m looking forward to eating pasta with friends and family.”

It’s still unclear whether the two Middle Eastern races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi can go ahead. Kimi Antonelli says: “Let’s see if the finale might perhaps take place at Imola. It would, of course, be wonderful to round off the season with a race at home; Imola is, after all, very close to Bologna. That would be a dream.”

That reminds the Italian reporters: didn’t Kimi Antonelli promise to have his hair dyed if he became world champion?

Kimi laughs: “That’s right – maybe I’ll dye one half in the colours of the Italian tricolour and the other in the colours of Bologna, so red and blue. Either way, there’s no time for that anyway, as I’m off to the Mercedes racing car factory in England very soon.”

“Apart from that, I just want to spend time with family and friends over the next few days and relax a bit. Theoretically, we’ve still got three races in a row ahead of us. I want to take a breather and reflect on everything that’s happened. And then I’ll start thinking about 2027, so I can generate emotions as intense as those we’ve experienced this season.”