Boardroom caught up with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 driver to talk about his journey to Formula 1 and the WhatsApp chat that changed his life.
Imagine it. You’re the son of a pretty successful Italian sports car driver. He wanted you to play soccer, but put you in a kart after seeing how much you loved race cars. You join some of the most competitive championships and start winning — a lot. You do well enough to catch the eye of Giovanni Minardi, son of the legendary team owner. He thinks you’re so good, he taps Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 team boss, Toto Wolff, who signs you to the championship-winning team’s junior squad. Fast forward a few years, and you’ve racked up trophies in any and every karting championship that matters before finally graduating to single-seater formula cars.
In three years, you go from the Italian F4 Championship, where you had a blockbuster debut and scored more points than any other rookie, to Formula 2 with a top squad in Prema. Your F2 season isn’t your best, but you’ve proven enough to Wolff to get you a proper test in F1 machinery with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 team. The tests go fine with you notching some fastest laps, and even though you spun out in one and damaged the car in another, the prevailing notion is that you’re headed to the big leagues — probably in a Williams to replace Logan Sargeant before the end of the 2024 season.
Instead, you remain in F2 for the remainder of the season. And then one day, seemingly out of the blue, you’re told the Mercedes-AMG CEO wants to schedule a call with you. The day comes, and you get a WhatsApp notification telling you Toto Wolff wants to have a video call. You answer, and Wolff appears alongside his top lieutenants and your parents, saying they’ve chosen the person they’ve chosen to succeed seven-time world champion, Sir Lewis Hamilton — you.
And all of this happens before your 18th birthday. Crazy, right?
That’s the super condensed version of Kimi Antonelli’s motorsport career up until the start of the 2025 F1 season; you can watch a much less abbreviated version of that story right now on Netflix. Made in partnership with WhatsApp, The Seat tells the story of how an Italian racing prodigy became the guy chosen to replace one of the sport’s all-time best drivers at Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula 1.
Before Antonelli grabbed his first pole in Saturday’s Miami Sprint Race — the youngest driver ever to claim an F1 pole under any format — and then finished P6 in Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix, Boardroom got some time with the Bologna native to talk about his journey to F1 and the group chat that changed his life.
The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Subscribe for the biggest stories in the business of sports and entertainment, daily.
The documentary takes a look at your entrance into F1. How has your experience been so far?
Kimi Antonelli: It’s a really nice sport. It can give you a lot of satisfaction, but at the same time, it can be really cruel. When I got into the Mercedes [junior] program, the spotlight was suddenly on me because at that young age, when you enter such a prestigious team’s junior program, of course, that means people expect good results from you.
And so, of course, since a very young age, I had to deal with this pressure. And I have to be honest: at the start, I struggled a little bit to cope with it. But then growing up and [getting] more experience, I started to cope with it much better. And now I kinda like being under pressure. It’s a nice feeling, and it’s really rewarding when you react well to it.
So, definitely pressure is a really big thing, especially this year. Because I’m experiencing a completely new environment. So a lot more to cope with. But overall, I’m really enjoying it as well. I think what’s really helped me, as well, to cope with [the pressure] was knowing that I have the right people around me. Good team. Really good family. People who I really trust and care about, and people who will really support me all the way, no matter what, they’re gonna be there for me and they’re not gonna judge me.
According to the film, your family was on the call that changed your life. Can you talk more about that day?
Antonelli: Yeah, it was a day I will remember forever for sure. I was coming back after a test at [Spa-Francorchamps] and I remember I was home and I get the notification in the morning that there will be a call in the afternoon with all the big bosses from Mercedes.
Did you have any idea what they were going to talk to you about?
Antonelli: I mean, I was quite surprised because I didn’t know the reason of the call. But then, as soon as I got on the call, I see all those people. I said, ‘Oh, wait a minute. Something must be going on.’ And then Toto went straight to the point. He didn’t waste any time. That was a really nice moment because my family was there, too. It was a really, really nice moment to share altogether.
Did you immediately go into your other group chats and tell your friends that you got the seat?
Antonelli: Yeah, as soon as I finished the call, I definitely texted my best friend. I called them, as well. Of course, I couldn’t [tell] more people because obviously it was not announced yet. I got to know a month before the announcement.
And it was hard to keep it [a secret] during that period of time because, you know, many people were also asking me if I would be getting the seat for 2025. I always had to say that I didn’t know whether I was going to get it or not. It was quite stressful. Then, finally, when it got announced, it was a big relief as well.
When you finally got the seat and joined the team officially, what was the biggest surprise to you?
Antonelli: Well, once I got to an F1, it was a completely new world because the amount of people that put effort, work, and dedication behind the two cars is mindblowing. I remember when I got to the factory and, you know, knowing that there are over 2,000 people working on the car — a bit more than a thousand, working on the chassis and designing parts and building them, and then another thousand on the engine side. It’s pretty incredible.
You don’t really realize it from the outside. But, I mean, when I first got to the factory for the first time, I was, I was speechless. I was shocked because, you know, so many people were working nonstop. There’s the factory where they’re working 24 hours a day. There’s the day crew working and then there’s the night shift. It’s pretty incredible. I was quite impressed. And also the amount of people that come to the track, as well. I remember from my test, I think there were 30-40 people just for my car. You know, engineers, mechanics.
And then, obviously, driving the car for the first time, the first thing [that surprised me] was the steering wheel. So many buttons. Oh my gosh. They had to send me [a] PowerPoint with the steering wheel, and there were about 30-40 pages about the wheel and all the buttons. It was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to learn all this.’
Then I was impressed by the power and the amount of down force that the car has. It’s really hard to have an idea until you try it. I think I realized how special the car is because it’s completely different to what I’d driven. The previous cars were good. But this car is absolutely next level, and it’s a real, real, real, real pleasure to drive.
Read More:
Simone Manuel’s Mission: A Future Where Everyone Can Swim Safely
Warner Bros. Discovery is Still All About Sports in Post-NBA Future
How a Hated CBA Rule Fixed the NBA Playoffs
From Culture to Cleats: Adidas, Sekou Thornell Spotlight Black Excellence
Why NBCUniversal, Amazon are Doubling Down on Live Sports, Original Content
