MotoGP star Valentino Rossi on World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli: “Very special”

With his performances this year, Kimi Antonelli has been thrilling not only the Mercedes team members, the competition and the World Championship reporters. The teenager, who went into the summer break as championship leader with a 50-point lead over record Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton, has also already won over many fans’ hearts

In his home country of Italy in particular, the likeable curly-haired driver is generating huge enthusiasm for Formula 1, as MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi is well aware. The nine-time world champion is full of praise when it comes to his young compatriot. Speaking to ‘Sky Sports F1’, for example, he said: ‘Ferrari is a religion in Italy, as you can imagine. And of course the Italians are happy when Ferrari wins. But I’m more of a fan of the drivers.’

Valentino Rossi: Several Formula 1 stars in the spotlight

“I follow what Lando Norris is doing, what Lewis Hamilton is doing; I’m interested in the drivers. So for me, it doesn’t really matter whether someone drives for McLaren or Ferrari. And of course I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Kimi Antonelli now too. He’s a huge talent, he’s incredibly fast, and in Italy we haven’t had a driver capable of winning the World Championship for the last 70 years. So that’s something very special,” explains the 47-year-old.

Antonelli would be the first Italian Formula 1 world champion since Alberto Ascari, who prevailed over the rest of the Grand Prix field in both 1952 and 1953. The last Italian Grand Prix winner before Antonelli, who has already won six Grands Prix, was Giancarlo Fisichella. The Roman won a total of three Grands Prix during his long Grand Prix career between 1996 and 2009, most recently triumphing in Malaysia in 2006.

Kimi Antonelli will also be putting his foot down on the Sepang circuit this year, as the 5.543 km track has been designated as the replacement venue for the Bahrain Grand Prix, which could not go ahead due to the war in the Middle East.

Topic of the week

The 2027 Formula 1 grid: Will the transfer bombshell only drop in the autumn?

Summertime, holiday season, the silly season: these are the weeks when the most outrageous driver changes are usually discussed. The big news for the 2027 season is yet to materialise.

Mathias Brunner

Read more