Marco Antonelli, father of F1 champion Kimi: “People think we were rich, but we didn’t have a single euro. When he was a baby, to get him to sleep, I hung him from the engine crane inside the baby carrier”
Marco Antonellifather of new F1 world champion, Kimi Antonellipublished an image on Instagram after his son’s coronation in Mexico that speaks for itself: There appears Kimi, when he was a newborn, in a baby carrier on a table in a racing workshop, surrounded by engines and tools. 20 years later he is already the youngest F1 world champion.
Kimi has always breathed gasoline and competition because his father, Marco Antonellifounded his own racing team GT and karting, AKM Motorsportafter trying, without luck, as a pilot, where he did not have enough resources to climb the categories.
Frame and his wife Veronica, Kimi’s motherthey talked about those memories and what they experienced Kimi since he was little at home in front of some Italian journalists present at the Mexican F1 GP, as published by the specialized journalist Diletta Colombo on the portal ‘Automoto.it’. In that talk, Frame He remembered key moments of the family struggle until he was able to see his son succeed in the F1.
“We come from families that have always had to do their best,” Veronica noted. “We have not grown up in a well-off environment. We have always had to work and solve the problems we had. We have also transmitted that to Andrea: nothing has been given to her,” he said.
We have not grown up in a wealthy environment. We have always had to work and solve the problems we had. We have also conveyed that to Andrea: nothing has been given to her
And therefore, so that it doesn’t go to her head and she learns to manage her money, her parents have clear rules to help Kimi with her financial education.
“Kimi has a monthly allowance to spend. She knows that if, for example, she wanted to pay for a vacation, but had spent too much in the previous months, she wouldn’t be able to book it. He has to make do with what he has“, they both highlighted. Kimi has a salary of about 5 million euros. But to them must be added the 10 million that he is expected to receive for the Constructors’ World Cup that Mercedes will win, and another 10 for winning the Drivers’ World Cup, for a total of approximately 25 million. But despite this, they continue to control his spending.
Kimi has a monthly allowance to spend. He has to make do with what he has. It will not always be like this, but it is important to instill these habits from now on.
“Obviously, it will not always be like this, but it is important to instill these habits in him from now on. He doesn’t think about money at all and focuses solely on doing what he loves. “The only thing he’s willing to spend on is cars.”expressed the parents of the fashionable pilot, aware of what a euro is worth and that they were always a great example of effort and improvement for Kimi.
The father was a truck driver while he managed his team
The family history, of humility and a lot of work, explains what Kimi Antonelli is like and his willingness to remain an earthly person, with his feet on the ground, as he recognized after winning, aware of how important people’s values are. Kimi always said that his dream was to be an F1 driver, but also to be remembered for being a good person, who transmits positive values to society. Wanting the second and not just the first makes it clear who Antonelli is and the family in which he was raised.
According to ‘Automoto.it’, Marco had to take out a loan to compete. “To compete in a race in 1992 with BMW Italia in Pergusa, I had to ask for a loan from the bank to buy a new helmet, a plane ticket and a suit. It wasn’t exactly an easy road. People think we were rich, but we didn’t have a single euro.”
And the aforementioned publication assures that in the first years of creating its racing team, Marco Antonelli not only directed his group, but also alternated working on the slopes with a job as a truck driver. AND Veronica, his wife, was the cook on the team. Both worked overtime to move this humble team forward. His life was that passion. And baby Kimi rested among tools, and at races, he slept inside the box, in a racing car, to isolate himself from the noise.
“I carried him in the cart behind the racing cars. For years they called me a bad mother because I exposed him to the exhaust gases. But, since I worked on the team, I didn’t have time to worry about those small details,” Verónica said in the aforementioned media.
I carried it in the cart behind the racing cars. For years they called me a bad mother because I exposed him to exhaust fumes. But, since I worked in the team, I didn’t have time to worry about those small details
“Many times, to get him to sleep, I would hang him from the motor crane inside the baby carrier and, from time to time, I would stop by to rock him”Marco pointed out.
And according to Marco, living the day-to-day life of his father’s team and the family conversations about how to overcome the problems the team faced helped Kimi know how to manage the pressure better. And despite his 20 years and his childlike face, his cold blood inside the car is surprising, but also his calm, closeness and kindness outside of it. The new F1 champion grew up among engines. Now, he is the new king.
