Kimi Antonelli showcased his immense talent by securing a surprise pole position for the Miami Grand Prix sprint race. The 18-year-old, who is only six rounds into his rookie Formula 1 season after stepping into Lewis Hamilton’s car at Mercedes, edged out championship leader Oscar Piastri by a mere 0.045 seconds around the Hard Rock Stadium.
Since replacing the seven-time world champion, Antonelli has been quietly impressive, although few anticipated him clinching pole for Saturday’s 19-lap sprint. Born five years after double world champion Fernando Alonso made his F1 debut, Antonelli became the youngest F1 driver to secure a pole position – albeit for a sprint, not Sunday’s main event.
Here’s everything you need to know about the young Italian, including his salary, personal life and how he has won over Hamilton….
As expected for a rookie, Antonelli is one of the lower-paid drivers on the grid. His earnings are a far cry from those of Max Verstappen, who reportedly rakes in £55million annually, and Hamilton, whose salary is estimated at £43million.
However, given his extraordinary potential, his relatively modest £1.5m salary could see a significant increase over the next few years. Being part of one of F1’s top teams, he is believed to earn at least twice as much as fellow newcomers Oliver Bearman, Jack Doohan and Isack Hadjar.
Antonelli’s beau of nearly a year-and-a-half, Eliska Babickova, is also a racer with hopes of climbing the motorsport ranks. The Czech star made waves as the first woman to clinch a victory in Italy’s prestigious OK karting category.
Beyond the track, Babickova has an active online presence, engaging followers through social media and running a YouTube channel alongside her sisters and racers Petra and Tereza. With ambitions beyond racing, she plans to conclude her high school education and pursue university studies in economics.
Antonelli’s debut in the Mercedes during an F1 weekend was rather brief. As per F1 protocol, teams must allocate time during FP1 sessions over the season for up-and-coming drivers, with Antonelli getting his big chance at his home grand prix at Monza.
Antonelli wasted no time showing his pace, only to crash heavily on his second timed lap. This accident required a hefty repair for Russell’s machine.
Speaking to Sky Italia, Antonelli conceded: “[Russell] was not very happy, but before going out at the Parabolica, I was going strong. With George I have a good relationship, everything is fine.”
Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner gave his take on the incident, suggesting Antonelli broke the sport’s unwritten golden rule by being overly aggressive too early in a practice session. Speaking to the Red Flags podcast, the Italian remarked: “If you finish second-last, last, third-last, fifth-last, 11th in FP1 nobody really cares – everybody will have forgotten where you finished, because nobody cares in FP1 where you finish. So don’t crash it because everybody will remember it.”
Despite the mishap, the weekend concluded positively for Antonelli as he was announced as Russell’s team-mate for 2025, with Hamilton heading to Ferrari.
Hamilton has wholeheartedly backed Antonelli’s step up to Mercedes. In August, amidst rumours about who would take over his drive, the F1 legend said: “I said a long time ago that I think that’s who the team should choose moving forwards.
“He’s one of those young, super-talented kids that’s come through. I think it’d be good for people just to remember he is just turning 18. He’s got a bright future ahead of him. I’m really excited to see and watch his progress.”
Antonelli is thankful for the encouragement from Hamilton. Ahead of the season opener in Australia, he said: “Lewis has always been nice to me, and also giving me some advice. I’m really, really grateful for that because it shows that he’s not only a great driver but also a great person.”
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.
