F1 star admits unusual Valentino Rossi ambition

Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli in 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

Mercedes

F1 star admits unusual Valentino Rossi ambition

Kimi Antonelli has had a stunning start to the season

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 10 April 2025 11:58

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Mercedes Formula 1 star Kimi Antonelli has suggested that he wants to become like motorsport legend Valentino Rossi, a racer who won seven world championships in his sport.

Antonelli has started his F1 career off in incredible fashion, becoming the first rookie to score points in their first three races in the sport since Lewis Hamilton in 2007, and currently sits fifth in the drivers' championship, ahead of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

The 18-year-old Italian looks poised to become the next superstar in F1, having already broken one of Max Verstappen's records, and appearing relatively close to much more experienced team-mate George Russell's pace in the early forays of his career.

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Antonelli was under pressure from seven-time champion Hamilton to keep hold of his sixth-place Japanese Grand Prix position, but in the end outclassed the 40-year-old and finished over 10 seconds clear of the Brit.

Now, Antonelli has suggested that he wants to emulate another seven-time motorsport champion, unusually suggesting that he looks to a MotoGP legend for inspiration for his own racing career.

"To become like Jannik Sinner or Vale Rossi one day? That's the goal and I hope to get to that level as soon as possible," Antonelli said in an interview with Sky Sports Italia. "The road is still long and not easy but that is definitely the goal."

Sinner is the number one tennis player in the world, and is also Italian, with Antonelli clearly looking to his fellow countrymen for inspiration as he seeks to one day become the best in his sport.

Valentino Rossi's legendary MotoGP career

It is no wonder why Antonelli wishes to emulate Rossi's achievements. The 46-year-old raced in MotoGP between 2000 and 2021, winning 89 races and claiming 199 podiums in the premier series.

Rossi is the only road racer to have competed in over 400 grands prix and, in total, he won nine championships on two wheels.

'The Doctor' - as he was nicknamed - is a big inspiration of seven-time F1 champion Hamilton, and himself had tests with Ferrari back in 2006, finishing just half a second behind F1 legend Michael Schumacher's times at a three-day Ferrari testing event.

However, Rossi never made the move to F1, stating back in 2006 that he wanted to stay racing on two wheels until he felt he was 'finished' with the motorsport.

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F1 Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Mercedes George Russell Kimi Antonelli