Kimi Antonelli “Nearly Gave Himself a Heart Attack” on the Way to Maiden F1 Win at Chinese GP

Kimi Antonelli joked about how he nearly had a heart attack after locking up his car and getting a bare spot on his tires at the Chinese GP.

Kimi Antonelli “Nearly Gave Himself a Heart Attack” on the Way to Maiden F1 Win at Chinese GP

Kimi Antonelli (via F1)

In Short
  • Kimi Antonelli became the youngest driver to achieve pole position in F1 history at the Chinese GP.
  • After losing the lead to Lewis Hamilton, Antonelli regained his position and led the race to victory.
  • Antonelli expressed gratitude to his team and acknowledged the challenges he faced at the start of the race.

Kimi Antonelli put forth an extremely strong showing at the Chinese GP. After becoming the youngest driver to achieve pole position in F1 history, Antonelli led the race up front all day long. The Italian driver won the race after battling for the position at the beginning of the session. Now, after making history, the 19-year-old joked about how he nearly suffered from a cardiac arrest because of the intense race.

At the beginning of the Chinese GP, Kimi Antonelli lost the P1 position to Lewis Hamilton‘s Ferrari. However, Antonelli kept a level head on track to ultimately clinch back the position from the 41-year-old. From then on, it was smooth sailing for the Italian as he led the race and did not lose the lead at any point in the race.

As such, after finishing the race, his race engineer, Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington, joked that Kimi Antonelli could finally breathe now. The Italian immediately joked on the team radio that he nearly had a heart attack, especially because of the possibility of a late race battle with George Russell. Ultimately, Brackley maximized results in China as they secured their second consecutive one-two finish.

Peter Bonnington: You can breath now.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: I nearly gave myself a heart attack

The duo said on the team radio.

Further, Kimi Antonelli was questioned about his thoughts on Mercedes’ chance to keep up with the positive momentum and lead the pack throughout the season. To this, the Italian pointed out that it was just the beginning, and two races had passed. Moreover, he applauded George Russell and the lessons he took from the Briton. Ultimately, Antonelli wants to look at the season race-by-race and see where he finally ends up in the standings.

Yeah, I mean, we are just at the beginning, George is an incredible driver. And I have been learning a lot from him. We just focus race by race, and see where we end up at the end of the year.

Kimi Antonelli added.

Kimi Antonelli recalls “not an easy start” to the Chinese GP

Certainly, Kimi Antonelli is young and is in his sophomore year in Formula 1. Still, the Italian showed no signs of being an inexperienced driver compared to the majority of the grid. Despite losing the lead at the very beginning, he drove well enough to win it back quickly and run up front all day. As such, the 19-year-old recalled the bad start and how he had to recover from it.

Toto Wolff and Kimi Antonelli (via Getty)
Toto Wolff and Kimi Antonelli (via Getty)

Kimi Antonelli accepted that he covered the inside line way too much and lost the position to Lewis Hamilton. Regardless, he was able to bring home the victory. He added that he was utterly speechless and would not hesitate to cry at the moment. Further, Antonelli thanked Mercedes for helping him achieve the dream of winning a race in the pinnacle of motorsport.

Thank you so much. I am kind of speechless, I am about to cry. Thanks to my team. They have helped me achieve this dream. It was not an easy start, I cover too much on the inside and gave too much room to the Ferrari. But we were able to bring it home.

Kimi Antonelli noted.

Mercedes has put forth the best development under the new regulations. The team has remained undefeated in terms of sheer pace. The German carmaker has achieved a great baseline and will continue to develop from this point forward. As such, the championship winners might be decided much earlier than everyone expects.

Read More: Lewis Hamilton Warns Mercedes ‘Not Impossible’ for Ferrari to Catch Up