4 min readMar 19, 2026 12:42 PM IST
Kimi Antonelli could dissect a racing circuit before he could drive himself to school.
The 19-year-old Mercedes driver sat his driving test in late January 2025, barely a fortnight before lining up on the grid in Melbourne for his F1 debut.
While his rivals were managing tyre strategies, he was still managing coursework — studying online for his Italian school-leaving exams through the first half of his rookie season. The driving test, by all accounts, was another humbling reminder that some things cannot be learned on a simulator.
His examiner, engineer Sara Giusti, remembered a teenager more comfortable with paddle shifts than a clutch pedal. Practising in a family member’s car and his father’s van had only done so much.
“Kimi is a shy, polite, calm boy,” she told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “He didn’t hesitate at all when starting — but he was a bit clunky with the gears and pedals.”
And then there was the indicator. The boy who has spent his entire life studying how to overtake people on a racetrack forgot to signal while passing a car on a public road. Twice. “I immediately pointed this out to him,” Giusti recalled. “‘I know your job is to overtake other drivers, but remember that you have to signal it on the road.’ He immediately corrected himself.”
Giusti also gave him something else that day: a touch of comfort ahead of what was shaping up to be the most consequential few weeks of his young life.
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“I asked Kimi how long the Melbourne track was. He replied confidently, ‘Five kilometres.’ And I said, ‘Then we’ll drive the same distance here,’” she said. “It was a bit of a dress rehearsal for him before his F1 debut.”
Race winner Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy, left, celebrates on the podium with third placed Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain after the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix race at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai. (AP Photo)
He passed. And that afternoon, unprompted, he returned to the licensing office with a framed photo collage — pictures from the test, his new licence in hand, and one in his Mercedes, signed off with a personal note of thanks to the entire staff. The collage, Giusti said, still hangs on the wall behind her desk.
Just over a year later, Antonelli gave the world something rather more spectacular to remember.
At the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend, he became only the second teenager in Formula 1 history to win a race, crossing the line in Shanghai at 19 years and 202 days — behind only Max Verstappen on the all-time list. He had started from pole, also the youngest driver ever to claim that distinction, and controlled most of the 56-lap contest to finish ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell. He is the first Italian winner since Giancarlo Fisichella in 2006.
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A visibly emotional Antonelli said afterwards: “I want to cry, to be honest. I said yesterday that I really wanted to bring Italy back on top, and I did that today.” Back in Bologna, his mother Veronica had been watching — and was reportedly in tears before her son even made it to the top step.
Mercedes gifted him a GT 63 S to mark the occasion, though he currently cannot drive it in Italy — its power-to-weight ratio exceeds national limits for newly licensed drivers.
Giusti, for her part, is simply glad the test went the way it did. “And to think I was the one who gave him his licence,” she told La Gazzetta. “Now I hope Kimi doesn’t forget to use his indicator when overtaking on the road.”
