F1 visit to Monza: Marco Bezzecchi marvels at Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes

Mercedes Formula 1 ace Kimi Antonelli is not only paying tribute to his idol and mate Valentino Rossi with a special helmet design this weekend in the cauldron of Monza. On Saturday, the Italian also received a special visitor from the VR46 squad: Marco Bezzecchi dropped in to see his compatriot. During his trip to Monza, ‘Bez’ was also accompanied by Aprilia racing boss Massimo Rivola and press officer Antonio Boselli.

Rivola has a background in Formula 1 anyway. Until 2019, he worked for Minardi/Toro Rosso and later for Scuderia Ferrari. As expected, the meeting between Antonelli and Bezzecchi was a warm one, despite the hustle and bustle in the Royal Park. As a reminder: as previously reported, Bezzecchi was even a guest at Antonelli’s private birthday party at the Aqua Park in Rimini.

Upon arriving at the Mercedes pit, there was first a brief chat, after which Bezzecchi watched the session from the VIP seats. After qualifying, the Aprilia star had the opportunity to take a leisurely test sit in Antonelli’s car – during which there was plenty of banter. The special helmet design in honour of Valentino Rossi was also a topic of conversation.

Sitzprobe: Marco Bezzecchi im F1-Mercedes

Foto: privat

Bezzecchi also had the functions of the steering wheel explained to him and was amazed at how light the control unit was, as well as the fact that Antonelli is weighed in the car before every session. “I would have imagined the steering wheel to be much heavier!” remarked Bezzecchi. At the sight of the numerous buttons, all he could manage was an exclamation of “Madonna mia!”.

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The motorcycling star was also surprised by how cramped the cockpit was. Furthermore, the MotoGP hero was amazed that the Halo safety system above the cockpit only slightly impairs the driver’s view. Finally, getting out of the car proved to be a challenge. “I still feel a bit more at home on a motorbike,” Bezzecchi grinned in the direction of Antonelli’s Mercedes crew.