Kimi Antonelli: His sweetheart gets two kisses a day and has no name

Racing drivers have their quirks. Some carry a coin in their shoe (with best regards to Sebastian Vettel), others have the Pope on board (right, Sergio Pérez), whilst others always get into their racing car from the same side. And then there’s Kimi Antonelli. He kisses his Formula 1 Mercedes before a race.

Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, the six-time Grand Prix winner spoke to my colleague Giulia Toninelli from *La Gazzetta dello Sport* about it. The teenager from Bologna says: “It’s true, I kiss the car every day, in the morning and in the evening. Because although the car is just an object, I feel I have a sort of spiritual connection with it. I think: if I treat her well, she’ll return the favour (in Italian, the racing car is female, M.B.). I haven’t given her a name yet, but I want to give her one – let’s see what it ends up being based on the results.”

Whatever happens this weekend, Kimi heads into the Formula 1 summer break as the championship leader. Kimi grins: “Well, not bad, is it? I’m completely relaxed and will enjoy the break more than last year, because I know I’ve done a fabulous job with the team in this first part of the season.”

“I have no doubts about my future and can therefore focus entirely on driving. But I can tell I really need a break: work on this season started on 3 January; it’s been more than seven months at full throttle, and I need to switch off a bit, have some fun and take my mind off things so I can come back in the best possible shape. Even though I know I’ll have had enough after just four days.”

“I’m going to do a bit of boating with friends, and my dad will be there too. He’ll be cooking for everyone and DJing. As a teenager, he used to work as a DJ in clubs to earn money for racing – even on race weekends – and he still enjoys spinning records today.”

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On the action at the Hungaroring, Kimi says: “I reckon Ferrari will be very strong, but McLaren should do well too, as they’ve brought an important upgrade with them.”

“I’m starting at a disadvantage because I’m missing the first practice session – Frederik Vesti will be out on the track in my place, so I’ll have to make up some ground. We’re not the favourites, but we weren’t in Monaco either, and we were extremely strong there.”

What did Kimi actually get up to after his sixth Grand Prix win in Belgium? Antonelli: “That evening I returned to Italy and watched the World Cup final. Then the next day I slept a lot – I think I didn’t wake up until about 2 pm. But by Monday evening I was back in England to start preparing for the race in Budapest.”