Luca Montezemolo (former Ferrari boss): That’s absolutely mad when it comes to Kimi Antonelli

Former Ferrari boss Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, like Kimi, hails from Bologna and has written in the *Corriere della Sera* about what he regrets regarding Antonelli. Montezemolo is candid: “It does bother me a bit to see him in a Mercedes. I’d love to see him in a Ferrari.”

But why is that, actually? Did Ferrari simply overlook the young Kimi when scouting for talent? Or was someone asleep at the wheel?

Montezemolo told Sky Italia: “I know that our sporting director at the time, Massimo Rivola, intended to sign Antonelli.”

Giovanni Minardi (son of team founder Giancarlo Minardi) told *La Gazzetta dello Sport*: “We started working on this early on, aiming to get Kimi into a junior programme as quickly as possible. We spoke to both Ferrari and Mercedes – it was important to act wisely and choose the partner who could offer the best guarantees.”

Marco Antonelli told the Formula Passion website: “Kimi was eleven years old and was even allowed to try out the simulator in Maranello – the very same one that had been developed for the students at Ferrari’s Driver Academy. Everything was in place to secure my son a place at Ferrari.”

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“But Maurizio Arrivabene, then head of the racing department, ultimately said my son was still too young for the junior programme. A few months later, Mercedes got in touch with us, and the rest is history.”

Speaking of history: Luca Montezemolo is convinced that Kimi Antonelli will shape Formula 1 in the years to come.

Montezemolo, now 79, told the Bologna-based daily newspaper *Il Resto del Carlino*: “Kimi’s performance is already changing the history of motor racing and Italian sport. And I say that as someone who, during my long time at Ferrari, never had the opportunity to chase the title alongside an Italian driver. I do feel a little sorry about it, but back then two winning drivers like Michele Alboreto and Riccardo Patrese were already nearing the end of their careers, and there were no Italians of their calibre coming through at that time.”

“With Kimi, we can sense the full strength of his family. We live in times when social disintegration stems precisely from the first unit of society: the family. Kimi is fortunate to have grown up with parents who have instilled in him sound values for life. I’d like to emphasise this, regardless of his sporting results, and it makes me particularly proud that this young man, alongside his roots in Bologna, is also a part of me. Sometimes I think: it’s absolutely mad that the first heir to Formula 1 world champion Alberto Ascari was born in Bologna of all places, just a 20-minute drive from Ferrari’s headquarters in Maranello.”