Kimi: An F1 Godsend
Posted on May 15, 2025
18-y-o Wunderkind
I RECKON WE NEED TO KEEP a close eye on 18-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli this weekend at Imola’s Italian Grand Prix, he’s hellbent on winning in front of his diehard fans at his home race.
This extraordinary young man strutted his stuff in Miami last up blitzing the field to claim pole for the Sprint Race, making history as the youngest pole-sitter in any F1 race format.
It was quite a rollercoaster weekend for the youngster. Starting on the front row in the Sprint, he lost the lead at Turn 1 to Aussie Oscar Piastri and eventually finished 7th.
Kimi Antonelli went on to finished 6th in the Miami Grand Prix. He had a strong start, briefly running P2, but ultimately couldn’t match the pace of the McLarens and dropped back. Teammate George Russell secured a podium finish in 3rd.
Kimi scored good points in both races. Not bad for a rookie!
It was simply a coincidence the other night that I watched the 40-minute biopic on Kimi’s entry into F1, The Seat, focusing on the aftermath of the youngster’s disastrous debut with Mercedes on August 30, 2024, at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff had given Andrea Kimi Antonelli the chance to drive George Russell’s updated W15 on Friday during the Grand Prix’s opening session for the Italian Grand Prix.
It turned out to be a baptism of fire, however!
Just 10 minutes into the session, Kimi lost control at the high-speed and very scary Parabolica, sliding across the track, through the gravel, and slamming into the barriers.
Kimi was ok, but the crash caused significant damage to the car, leaving Mercedes mechanics with a major repair job before FP2.
Toto Wolff’s response was a reassuring:
“Kimi, all good. All good, Kimi.”
Toto knew a rookie mistake when he saw one but was insistent that Kimi was the driver alongside George for 2025.
And that’s exactly what has evolved.
Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Imola is looking cool on Friday, and Mercedes is renowned for taking advantage of its speed advantage in those conditions.
Both George and Kimi should relish the weekend’s forecast, and the pair should be ideally situated to make a good showing in the final results.
A rare anti-clockwise F1 track
The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix heralds the start of the European season, featuring the Imola circuit, named in memory of Ferrari legends Enzo Ferrari and his son Dino.
Officially called the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola is a 4.909km somewhat narrow track in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, 40-km east of Bologna.
It is one of the few major international circuits to run in an anti-clockwise direction and initially designed for motorcycle racing.
It has the capacity for 78,000 spectators and feature 19 corners in its current configuration, including:
– Tamburello – Infamous for its high-speed nature and tragic history.
– Tosa – A tight left-hander that demands precision.
– Acque Minerali – A tricky double-right that tests braking and traction.
– Rivazza – A crucial pair of corners leading onto the main straight.
It’s a circuit steeped in history, known for its technical layout and passionate motorsport fans.
C6 makes its debut in Imola
The new C6 compound makes its race debut in Imola, as Pirelli’s C5 compound is no longer the softest of the range, with the F1 tyre manufacturer set to debut the super softy at this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Pirelli has chosen the softest trio of compounds in its 2025 range for this weekend – with the C4 as Hard, the C5 as Medium and the C6 as Soft.
It’ll be the first time that drivers will run the C6 on this season’s cars as none of them used it during Bahrain testing.
Aside from their two wet-weather compounds, Pirelli now have a range of six slick compounds, and they give the teams three to use at every Grand Prix depending, on the circuit.
Homologated for use at tracks that stress the tyres the least – like here in Italy- the C6 could provide even more grip over a flying lap, especially as the Imola surface is less abrasive than average.
While it’s doubtful the C6 will be used for a race stint data gathered in Imola, and then from upcoming Monaco and Montreal, will allow Pirelli engineers to evaluate it for other Grands Prix in the second part of the season.
But it will be interesting to see how the softest tyre in the range fares in short stints,
like qualifying!
From the C1 being the hardest compound to the C6 being the softest, the three compounds available each race weekend are labelled hard, medium, soft, whether they are on the harder side of the scale or the softer.
And when Pirelli says soft at Imola, the longtime F1 tyre manufacturing experts mean extremely soft – the C6.
Pirelli announced last year that they would design a sixth tyre compound for the F1 2025 championship, aimed at improving the racing by forcing teams into additional pit stops.
One-stop strategy best in 2024
Last year at Imola, the one-stop strategy proved the most competitive, with 15 drivers starting the race on the Medium C4, three on the Hard C3 and two on the Soft C5.
The harder compounds worked best, offering very consistent performance, with limited degradation, despite track temperatures above 50 °C.
Those who started on the Soft had to make two stops.
King of Imola
The mighty Michael Schumacher is the king of Imola, winning an extraordinary seven times.
Equal in second place on the list of winners with three apiece, are two men who were always great rivals – Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.
But current world champion Max Verstappen has won here the last three starts.
Ayrton has the most pole positions here at Imola, with eight, but Michael leads podiums with 12.
Ferrari and Williams each have the most team wins here with 8, ahead of McLaren on 6.
Italian (Emilia-Romagna) Grand Prix
TIMES PERTH WA
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari | 16 – 18 May
P1 Friday 16th May 19:30
P2 Friday 16th May 23:00
P3 Saturday 17th May 18:30
Qualifying
Saturday 17th May 22:00
RACE
Sunday 18th May 21:00
NEXT EVENT
MONACO GRAND PRIX
Circuit de Monaco | 23 – 25 May
EDITED by AC
Leave a Reply