Protecting Kimi Antonelli: Why His Parents Didn’t Want Him to Race

Like father, like son

Marco himself knows it firsthand. A touring car driver, he saw two opportunities to enter the German touring series DTM slip back-to-back. First with Alfa Romeo, then very soon after with BMW.

"Sometimes you are fast but not in the right position to become a professional driver," he said in an interview with BBC’s Andrew Benson. 

"I suffered a lot for it," he continued. "And, of course, I was scared that my son [would] relive the same situation. At the beginning, I was very stressed about the passion my son had for motorsport."

Kimi understands this very well. 

“To be honest [...], initially he didn’t want me to race,” the Mercedes driver said of his father to the BBC, “because he knows how motorsport can be amazing, but at the same time can be brutal. He faced it himself as well, the brutal side of motorsport, and he didn’t want me to get affected by it. He didn’t want me to get too disappointed about difficult moments and so on, so he wanted to kind of protect me.”

But like any young person with a dream, ambition, and overflowing talent, his parents’ cautions could never have been enough to deter him from going for it.

“He didn’t have to push for it. It was me pushing for it, so that’s when he understood that probably I will become a racing driver.”

His mother’s watchful eye

It wasn’t just his father, though. Kimi’s mother, Veronica, likewise recalls feeling the same apprehension towards her son’s dedication to the sport. “We were away from home a lot, 30 races a season in Italy and abroad,” she said in an interview with Graining F1. “I always accompanied him, and during those years, I tried to dissuade him because I thought it was impossible to get where we are now. 

“He looked at me sideways as if to say, ‘This woman is crazy!’ But deep down, he knew it was his path.”

Indeed, by just 11 years old, Kimi was standing head and shoulders above the other karters he was facing, and catching the attention of major players in F1, including Ferrari and Mercedes, the team he now drives for and is leading the Championship with.

‍

Along came Toto Wolff

While his parents will never stop worrying, having a leader like Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff to guide Kimi along the way has been a source of comfort for the family.

“As a mother[...] I handed Andrea over to Toto Wolff. When Andy calls him his second father, it’s true because Toto is very protective of his drivers,” said Veronica. “It was hard, but I’m happy because we have a wonderful relationship with the Wolff family. I’m a present mother, but not a smothering one, so Andrea had the chance to learn to stand on his own. I think Toto liked that, along with his speed and ability to immediately push to the limit.”

But while many see Toto in a father-figure role for Kimi, he is quick to reject the image. When asked on the Beyond the Grid podcast last year whether his relationship with Kimi is paternal, Toto said, “Paternal is the wrong word. He has a dad, a great dad, [and] super support from all of the family. They’re a typical Italian family, they stick together like glue, the mother is fantastic and so he doesn't need any parent, because the parent is here. 

“I think what I need to be is, to look after him here when he's within the racing team, protect him from some of the missteps that he potentially could do or did, guide, put my arm around his shoulder when things are difficult. But also be open and honest when things are not running well without ever giving him the feeling that this is a hire-and-fire institution.”

That’s exactly what Marco and Veronica needed to hear. Their son is in safe hands while he pursues his dream, with a support system that extends far beyond the family to keep Kimi’s best interests at heart while he continues to grip onto that steering wheel and drive his career forward. 

"We tried to do the best for our son, but Mercedes did a big job,” Marco said after Kimi’s first win at the Chinese Grand Prix. “I can say only thank you.”