Mercedes mechanics have discovered to observe their backs. Not due to the risks of a pitstop, however due to Kimi Antonelli. System 1’s newly topped world champion has a relatively uncommon behavior. He approaches members of his crew, greets them and, once they least anticipate it, provides their nipples a pinch – so no one seems to be secure!
It’s simply one of many many sensible jokes via which the 20-year-old Italian has developed a particular relationship with the individuals who work on his W17. However behind the mischief, seemingly thus far faraway from the picture of a world champion, lies one thing rather more vital.
Success has roots that aren’t all the time seen. To grasp them, you generally need to look past what occurs on the observe. In Antonelli’s case, which means listening to the individuals who share the work, strain and feelings of a grand prix weekend with him.
Their accounts paint an image of a younger man who has earned one thing that even a world championship can not assure: the belief and respect of these round him. It’s a relationship that developed naturally, rooted in an angle Antonelli discovered lengthy earlier than reaching F1, when he accompanied his father Marco to races along with his personal crew. Rising up round workshops and racing circuits taught him a worthwhile lesson: earlier than turning into a racing driver, it’s a must to discover ways to be a part of a crew.
“When he comes into the storage, it is fairly a present,” stated Nathan Tupper, who works on the facility unit of Antonelli’s automobile. “He grabs everybody, pinches individuals’s nipples, slaps them throughout and usually causes chaos. On the finish of the day, he is 20 years previous. That is simply Kimi.”
Ash Jones, the second senior mechanic on Antonelli’s automobile, agrees: “There are such a lot of sensible jokes that it could be tough to checklist all of them. He comes over, says howdy after which provides you a pinch. That is how he jokes round with us. He likes having a great relationship with everybody, laughing and having enjoyable collectively.”
The jokes don’t even cease when the circumstances would appear to demand most focus. Tom Mason, Antonelli’s primary mechanic, has seen it numerous occasions: “It all the time makes me snort watching him on the brink of get into the automobile earlier than qualifying. He is nonetheless joking round, grabbing the fellows, tickling them. Even when the strain is big, he is there having enjoyable. He is extremely relaxed.”
The motive force who has displayed such outstanding maturity on the observe is identical younger man who, the second he walks into the storage, turns into a 20-year-old desperate to have some enjoyable. Birthdays are one other event for the Mercedes mechanics to be on their guard, as Antonelli has launched a convention of celebrating his colleagues by overlaying their faces in whipped cream.
George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Toto Wolff, Mercedes
Photograph by: Hector Vivas / System 1 through Getty Photos
Callum Wooldridge, who works on the entrance finish of Antonelli’s automobile, defined why the ritual has develop into so in style throughout the crew. “Whenever you work in System 1, you spend a lot time away from dwelling that generally you find yourself celebrating your birthday throughout a grand prix weekend,” he stated.
“It is not all the time simple. Generally you actually miss being at dwelling. Kimi began this factor with whipped cream in individuals’s faces, and I do not suppose there are a lot of different garages within the paddock the place one thing like that occurs. It is humorous. It occurred to me on my birthday in September final yr.”
The sensible jokes have helped create an setting during which the connection between the driving force and his crew has develop into unusually shut. “It is among the finest atmospheres I’ve ever skilled working with a driver,” stated Jones. “With Kimi, you’re feeling fully comfy. It is like speaking to one of many guys you’re employed with every single day. There is not any awkwardness, no rigidity while you communicate to him.”
Antonelli’s race engineer Peter Bonnington actively encourages that sense of familiarity. “Bono encourages us to work together with him, to have fun,” Mason defined. “Kimi could be very approachable and loves joking round with the fellows. It is a actually good setting to work in.”
The early exams, the crashes and the child within the blue cap
To find one other aspect of Antonelli, one should return to 2024, when Mercedes started the testing programme designed to arrange him for his F1 debut. Franck Bougeard was one of many mechanics concerned in these classes and his first encounter with Antonelli got here within the spring, throughout a take a look at in Austria. Kimi was simply 17, carrying a blue cap with a relatively unruly head of hair protruding from beneath.
“I keep in mind all that hair popping out of his cap, wanting a bit messy,” stated Bougeard with a smile. “He actually regarded like just a little child. And there he was, about to drive a System 1 automobile.” Bougeard’s reminiscences additionally embrace Antonelli’s early crashes, because the younger Italian started exploring the boundaries of an F1 machine.
“At Abu Dhabi, he crashed and broken the chassis. Fortunately, we might introduced a spare one, which is one thing we hardly do at these exams,” he stated. “I do not even know why we might introduced it, however thank goodness we had, as a result of we would have liked it.”
Antonelli crashed on his F1 session debut in Monza, 2024
Photograph by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Photos
Then got here Monza, and one other accident: “At that time I used to be beginning to suppose, ‘sensible, each time this child leaves the storage, we’ll find yourself altering a chassis!’ He was very fast, however generally he pushed too exhausting. He wanted to be taught the place the restrict of the automobile was, and some crashes have been a part of that course of. That is precisely why we have been there, to provide him the chance to be taught.”
After his accident at Monza, Antonelli returned to the storage visibly upset in regards to the further work he had prompted. “He stored apologising,” Bougeard recalled. “He was saying how sorry he was for having destroyed the automobile once more. I advised him it wasn’t an issue and that the vital factor was that he was OK. Then I requested him: ‘What did your dad say?'”
Kimi’s reply has stayed with the mechanic ever since.
“He gave me a telling-off for half an hour,” he stated. Bougeard additionally wished to know the way Antonelli’s mom had reacted. Kimi defined that she had been terribly frightened, to the purpose of tears. So right here was an adolescent already able to driving an F1 automobile, but nonetheless coping with the kind of household conditions acquainted to numerous younger individuals.
His father telling him off, his mom worrying about him, and Kimi returning to the mechanics to apologise. However Marco Antonelli additionally options in one other memorable episode, as throughout a take a look at in Abu Dhabi, after studying that his son had crashed into the boundaries, he rushed in direction of the scene of the accident, even crossing the circuit to succeed in him.
“Marco was on the opposite aspect of the observe. When Kimi crashed, he instantly set off to get to him,” stated Bougeard. “I needed to communicate to him afterwards. I stated: ‘Marco, there are professionals right here, there are ambulances. The very last thing I would like is so that you can get run over by an ambulance when you’re crossing the circuit!'”
Marco admitted he had been unsuitable. However these early accidents are extra than simply amusing reminiscences. Tom Mason recalled that when Antonelli joined the Mercedes race crew at the start of 2025, one of many younger driver’s greatest issues was creating an excessive amount of work for his mechanics.
Antonelli endured many a tricky lesson earlier than turning into world champion
Photograph by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Photos through Getty Photos
“Every time he made a mistake, he felt extremely dangerous about it,” stated Mason. “He stored apologising for the harm to the automobile and for all of the work he’d prompted us. Finally, I advised him he wanted to cease worrying about that.”
Mason remembered precisely what he wished the younger driver to grasp. “I advised him: ‘You need not apologise to us. If one thing goes unsuitable, you do not have to fret in regards to the automobile or the work we now have to do. We’re glad to do our jobs. So long as you give every part you have bought, we’ll do precisely the identical for you.'”
There had inevitably been some uncertainty earlier than Antonelli arrived, as Mercedes was saying goodbye to Lewis Hamilton after a vastly profitable partnership and handing his automobile to an 18-year-old rookie.
“We did not actually know what to anticipate,” Mason admitted. “We might labored with Lewis for therefore a few years and knew his habits inside out. With Kimi, every part was going to be new. I puzzled what number of accidents he may need, how lengthy it could take him to adapt and the way a lot further work he would possibly create for us.”
There have been tough moments, significantly throughout the 2025 season. However Mason burdened that even at his lowest factors, Antonelli by no means introduced rigidity into the storage. “Spa was significantly tough for him,” he added. “However we weren’t indignant. If something, we felt sorry for him as a result of we may see how a lot he was struggling. He was so younger and had an unlimited quantity of strain on his shoulders.”
However one high quality has significantly impressed Antonelli’s primary mechanic: his means to maneuver on rapidly from disappointment. “He can have a horrible weekend, or a follow session the place every part goes unsuitable,” he stated. “When he will get out of the automobile, he is indignant. You possibly can clearly see it. However the subsequent time you meet him, he is already fully completely different. He comes again into the storage stuffed with enthusiasm, prepared to begin once more. He would not carry that negativity round with him. It is nearly as if he begins once more from zero each time.”
For Mason, that angle makes a substantial distinction to the way in which the crew operates. “If a driver is consistently in a foul temper, the individuals working with him finally find yourself feeling the identical manner,” he claimed. “With Kimi, it is the alternative. He is so optimistic that his enthusiasm rubs off on everybody. For me, having to coordinate the work of the fellows, that is a super state of affairs.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photograph by: Simon Galloway / LAT Photos through Getty Photos
Two days to be taught everybody’s title
There may be one other element on which all 5 mechanics agree: Antonelli is aware of the individuals who work on his automobile personally, and he discovered their names remarkably rapidly. “That is one of many issues that impressed me most,” stated Ash Jones. “He is aware of everybody within the storage. Not simply their names, however particulars about their private lives too. When you inform him one thing about your self, he remembers it.”
Tom Mason remembered an episode from the times earlier than Antonelli formally joined the race crew. “After we came upon Kimi was coming, I spoke to Rosa, his press officer,” he stated. “I recommended organising one thing in order that we may all get to know him. Rosa advised me Kimi was actually enthusiastic in regards to the concept, however first he wished to do one thing with the fellows who’d labored with him throughout testing.”
Antonelli had no intention of forgetting the individuals who had accompanied him via the earlier months. “He was very aware of that,” stated Mason. “He wished to ensure he met up with the individuals from the testing programme first, the fellows who had been with him as much as that time. Then he would get to know everybody else.”
And when he lastly arrived within the race crew’s storage, the introductions have been remarkably fast. “After a few days, he already knew everybody’s title,” added Mason. “And that is unimaginable when you concentrate on how a lot he needed to be taught on the similar time: a brand new automobile, how the crew operated, all of the procedures, working with the engineers. But he nonetheless discovered the time to get to know each single particular person.”
It’s an angle that appears to run via the Antonelli household. Nathan Tupper defined that Marco had additionally developed a spontaneous, affectionate relationship with the mechanics. “You may be working away and all of the sudden somebody comes up and provides you a hug from behind. You flip round and uncover it is Marco,” he stated. “That is simply how he’s. They are a very open, affectionate household. They make you’re feeling a part of their world.”
Callum Wooldridge remembered the younger driver he first met at the start of 2025: “He was nonetheless just a little shy and wanted time to settle in. Because the months glided by, he opened up increasingly. In the present day he isn’t shy in any respect. He jokes with everybody.
“However actually, he is nonetheless the identical particular person. He is simply discovered to really feel at dwelling. He is a part of the household now. He behaves precisely like the remainder of us. And the good factor is that his angle would not change relying on the outcomes. Whether or not he is had a great day or a foul one, he is all the time the identical child.”
Antonelli’s crash throughout FP3 in Melbourne
Photograph by: Mark Thompson / Getty Photos
Melbourne: When the mechanics labored a miracle
But life within the Mercedes storage will not be all jokes and laughter, as Jones recalled what occurred in Melbourne firstly of the 2026 season. Antonelli had badly broken his automobile throughout FP3, leaving the mechanics dealing with a race towards time to get it prepared for qualifying.
“After qualifying, I went to talk to him,” Jones stated. “He advised me: ‘I’ve no concept the way you managed to get my automobile again on observe.’ He genuinely could not imagine it!” So Antonelli’s second place on the grid made the day much more particular.
“He was extremely grateful for what we might performed. He simply stored thanking us,” he stated. “That is one thing that has actually stayed with me.” It’s an episode that helps clarify simply how personally the Mercedes mechanics have skilled Antonelli’s journey to the world championship.
“When Kimi has a foul day, we really feel dangerous too,” stated Wooldridge. “Whether or not the issue is right down to him or the automobile would not actually matter. We’re so shut that all of us undergo the identical feelings collectively. It is like being on a rollercoaster.”
For Jones, the turning level in believing Antonelli may genuinely win the world championship got here at Monza, the place the Italian sensationally fought his approach to victory from nineteenth on the grid. Wooldridge, in the meantime, selected Austin, the place Antonelli transformed an surprising pole place right into a victory delivered with outstanding maturity.
Nathan Tupper’s most vivid reminiscence is the emotion of Antonelli’s maiden grand prix win in China – the race after Australia – whereas Bougeard, who first met Antonelli when he was nonetheless an adolescent taking his first steps in an F1 automobile, prefers to have a look at the complete journey.
“It is unimaginable to suppose how a lot he is grown in such a brief area of time,” he stated. “We knew he had expertise, however I by no means imagined he’d come this far, this rapidly.”
Marco Antonelli talks with Simone Resta, Deputy Technical Director of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Workforce
Photograph by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Photos through Getty Photos
A world champion who remains to be a child at coronary heart
There may be one comment from Bougeard that maybe sums up Antonelli higher than some other. “It is tough to not like him,” he claimed. “Even in case you awoke one morning considering you actually did not need to put up with Kimi that day, the second you see him, you modify your thoughts. He is bought an important sense of humour and loves teasing individuals. He provides you the sensation that he is genuinely having fun with what he does.”
Antonelli’s story is filled with contrasts. The child with the messy hair who turned up for his first F1 exams. The younger driver that apologised profusely after destroying a chassis, whereas his father advised him off and his mom anxious about him. And the 20-year-old who’s now the youngest world champion, however nonetheless wanders across the storage taking part in sensible jokes on his mechanics.
Antonelli has grown up. He has discovered to deal with strain and earned authority throughout the crew, with out dropping the spontaneity that characterised him when he first joined the Mercedes programme. His mechanics have watched a rare expertise develop. They’ve rebuilt his vehicles after accidents, shared his disappointments, celebrated his first victories and skilled the stress of a championship battle that might have appeared unattainable just a few months earlier.
Then, on Sunday night in Mexico Metropolis, got here the hugs and the tears. It was not merely the enjoyment of a crew celebrating a world championship. It was the emotion of people that had watched a younger man develop up, bought to know him and, someplace alongside the way in which, develop into genuinely keen on him.
The world title is simply the subsequent step on that journey.
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