Andrea Kimi Antonelli (born 25 August 2006) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

racing driver currently set to race in the

2023 Formula Regional European Championship The 2023 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine was a multi-event, Formula Regional open-wheel single seater motor racing championship held across Europe. The championship featured a mix of professional and amateur drivers, competing ...

with

Prema Racing Prema Powerteam (competing as Prema Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Championship and European Le Mans Series and as Prema Orlen Team in the FIA World Endurance Championship) is a motorsport team from Italy. It mainly ...

. He previously competed in the

Italian F4 Championship Italian Formula 4 Championship is the first formula racing series regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2014 Italian F4 Championship, effectively replacing the Formula Abarth. History Gerhard Berger and th ...

and ADAC Formula 4 Championship for

, which he won in both series. He has been part of the

Mercedes Junior Team The Mercedes Junior Team is an initiative by the Mercedes-AMG F1 Team to help nurture talent from karts through the feeder series ladder to promote them to their Formula One team. All eligible drivers have been promoted to Formula One, with P ...

since 2019.

Career

Karting

Antonelli started in

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

at the age of seven and has been successful in a number of categories in the discipline. He has won the Easykart International Grand Final (Easy 60), South Garda Winter Cup,

WSK Champions Cup The WSK Champions Cup is a European kart racing competition organised by the WSK. Its inaugural season took place in 2014. Today, the series holds championships in three karting categories: OK, OKJ and 60 Mini. KZ2 Champions KF Class/OK ...

WSK Super Master Series The WSK Super Master Series is a kart racing competition organised by the WSK. Its inaugural season took place in 2010. Today, the series holds championships in four karting categories: KZ2, OK, OKJ and 60 Mini. Notable champions have been Fo ...

WSK Euro Series The WSK Euro Series is a European open kart racing competition organised by the WSK. Its inaugural season took place in 2010. Today, the series holds championships in four karting categories: KF2, OK, OKJ and 60 Mini. Notable champions have b ...

, and was crowned CIK-FIA Karting European Champion twice in a row in 2020 and 2021.

Formula 4

Italian F4 Championship

2021

In 2021, just three weeks after he turned 15, Antonelli made his single-seater debut in the fifth round of the 2021 Italian F4 Championship, driving for Prema at the

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later sh ...

. He got his campaign off to a good start, finishing as the best rookie in his first race and scoring four points across the weekend. The Italian scored points again at the following round in

Mugello The Mugello is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, in Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of Fl ...

, but his breakout weekend would be the final event at the

Monza Circuit The Monza Circuit ( it, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, , National Automobile Racetrack of Monza) is a race track near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. Built in 1922, it was the world's third purpose-built motor racing circuit af ...

. Antonelli got second place in race one after a hard battle with championship leader

Ollie Bearman Oliver Bearman (born 8 May 2005) is a British racing driver. He was the 2021 Italian and ADAC Formula 4 champion and is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy. He most recently competed for Prema Racing in the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship, ...

and scored two third places to cap off the weekend. Overall, Antonelli ended up tenth in the standings despite missing the majority of the season, being just six points behind full-time Prema driver Conrad Laursen, and finished fourth in the rookies' championship with four wins in the category.

2022

In 2022, the Italian remained with Prema to contest the Italian F4 series, partnering Charlie Wurz, Conrad Laursen and Ferrari Academy members James Wharton and Rafael Câmara. His season started out in disappointing fashion, as Antonelli was forced to retire from the season opener at

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical re ...

after a gearbox issue whilst in the lead with five laps left. He would receive front wing damage after clipping a kerb in Race 2 and was penalised for a collision with teammate Wharton in Race 3, demoting him from fourth to tenth. The following rounds however would bring success, with two victories at Misano, and triples at

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...

and Vallelunga. A further win in

Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

and

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

respectively added to Antonelli's championship advantage, and he clinched the title by winning Race 1 at

Formula 4 UAE Championship

In preparation for his main campaign in 2022, Antonelli took part in part of the

Formula 4 UAE Championship Starting in the 2016–17 season, the all new Formula 4 UAE Championship was launched by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, and its national affiliate the Automobile & Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates (ATCUAE), who acted as t ...

. He took third place in the trophy race held in support of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In the main championship, he was originally set to only contest round three, but health issues for Rafael Câmara meant Antonelli replaced him in the season opener. There, Antonelli took three on-the-road victories in a row, but lost the last one due to a penalty. Accumulating a further podium finish in round 3, Antonelli ended up eighth in the standings despite missing over half of the season.

ADAC Formula 4 Championship

In 2022, Antonelli raced in ADAC Formula 4 Championship in parallel with his Italian F4 programme. He took two victories in round 1 at

before completely dominating round 2 at

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz M ...

, where he took all possible wins, poles and fastest laps. At the third round in

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

he took both pole positions and two fastest laps and took two wins in the first two races before missing out on a hat-trick of wins by 0.058 in the reverse grid Race 3 where teammate Conrad Laursen took the victory. Despite missing the penultimate event at the

Lausitzring The Lausitzring (formally known as the Dekra Lausitzring for ownership reasons) is a race track located near Klettwitz (a civil parish of Schipkau, Oberspreewald-Lausitz district) in the state of Brandenburg in northeast Germany, near the bord ...

, the Italian took the championship with one race to spare, having taken victory in the first two races during a weather-affected final round at the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

Motorsport Games F4 Cup

In October 2022, it was announced Antonelli would represent Team Italy in the F4 Cup discipline of the

FIA Motorsport Games The FIA Motorsport Games is a multi-sport motorsport events of nations administered by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. The first event took place in Italy in 2019 and was won by Russia. The 2020 edition was postponed to 2021, a ...

. He ended up winning the qualifying and main race respectively, despite racing with a broken left wrist, owing to a collision near the end of qualifying.

Formula Regional Middle East Championship

Antonelli is due to race in the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship with

Prema Powerteam Prema Powerteam (competing as Prema Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Championship and European Le Mans Series and as Prema Orlen Team in the FIA World Endurance Championship) is a motorsport team from Italy. It mainly ...

before his main 2023 campaign.

Formula Regional European Championship

Antonelli was confirmed to be moving into the

Formula Regional European Championship The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) is a FIA-certified regional European Formula 3 racing series. On 12 October 2018 it was announced that the Italian autosport regulator Automobile Club d’Italia (ACI) and karting prom ...

, remaining with Prema for the 2023 season.

Formula One

In 2019, Antonelli was announced by the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team as part of the

Personal life

His father

Marco Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish c ...

is a former racing driver who is owner of the AKM Motorsport outfit that is racing in the

Karting record

Karting career summary

Complete CIK-FIA Karting European Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Racing record

Racing career summary

* Season still in progress.

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) * Season still in progress.

Complete Formula 4 UAE Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA Motorsport Games results

Complete Formula Regional Middle East Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Antonelli, Andrea Kimi 2006 births Living people Italian racing drivers Italian F4 Championship drivers Italian F4 champions ADAC Formula 4 drivers Prema Powerteam drivers Karting World Championship drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers FIA Motorsport Games drivers Formula Regional European Championship drivers People from Bologna UAE F4 Championship drivers Mumbai Falcons drivers