Even more than his results in the car, what is striking about Antonelli is his solidity off the track. The world championship leader met the press in the Monte Carlo paddock, sending back Russell’s statements, who after Canada had stated that only Kimi could lose the world championship. The Italian driver displays a serenity that speaks of great psychological form, but his physical form is no less impressive.
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Kimi doesn’t fall for it
Among the many topics touched upon on the eve of Monaco, Russell’s phrase after Montreal could not be missed, stating that the world championship was now in his teammate’s hands. These are words that Antonelli let slide off him, without falling into the psychological trap: “When I read it, I smiled a little, because talking about these things so early makes no sense. If you think about it, how can you lose something you don’t have? I haven’t won the championship, so what do I have to lose? Every time I go on track, I try to give my best, I try to win. There will be occasions where I’ll have to settle, but I have nothing to lose. Every weekend I try to have as much fun as possible, to do the best I can with what I have.”
Antonelli reveals that he confronted Russell after the Montreal weekend, in what he described as a constructive meeting: “We had a meeting on Tuesday before coming to Monaco. We reviewed some of the most important incidents from the Canadian race and we clarified what we want to avoid for the future.” Kimi also assures that the atmosphere at Mercedes remains relaxed, far from other situations in the past where there was no data sharing between the two sides of the garage: “For now, there is full transparency, we don’t want to reach that level.”
Work on body and mind
The Italian driver nevertheless believes that the duel with Russell in Canada was an opportunity for growth: “It was a weekend where I learned a lot about myself, especially in trying to manage emotions in the car. In that respect, I believe I learned a lot, particularly in the Sprint, where I could have been a bit more careful after the contact. I was much more aggressive than usual, which is something I’ve tried to work on a lot. Now I need to manage the doses of everything a bit.”
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Antonelli shows great serenity and psychological health, which shines through his smiles and body language, as well as his statements. Kimi thus looks optimistically at the European season, in which in 2025 he experienced his biggest period of crisis: “I don’t even think about last year’s European phase, it’s completely forgotten. I think it was largely due to how the car had changed, but also to all the pressure I put on myself. This year will be a different story.”
The championship leader is already looking ahead, revealing that he has worked to build muscle mass, so as not to suffer the backlash in the second part of the season. Kimi concludes: “Ultimately, this year has been a bit of a strange season, with many breaks at the beginning. From now on, they will all be consecutive, so there will be little time to train. The more I train, the better it is in the long run. Now there’s the European phase, but after that we’ll start traveling a lot and there will be less time to recover and train. The fitter I am, the better, especially towards the end of the season.”
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