The championship leader revealed that his father warned him after the Belgian GP, also highlighting his family's key role in his development.
Kimi Antonelli has revealed that his father Marco is his biggest critic and is not afraid to speak his mind to help him improve. The Formula 1 championship leader admitted he must work on his track limits usage, a trend that has led him to receive penalties on several occasions this season: "I guess you know I like to use the track sometimes too much" declared the 19 year old Italian in the Hungarian Grand Prix press day.
The Mercedes driver acknowledged that at the Belgian Grand Prix he committed two track limit infringements which he described as very stupid: "I look back and think 'What the hell was I doing?', it's a bit like Barcelona and Miami too. I feel it's something I definitely have to work on because at some point in a race I might need to use them, but if I use them when I don't need them, I could find myself in trouble" he explained.
Antonelli revealed that his father was one of the first to remind him of the problem after the race: "Definitely my father, one of the first things he told me after the race was 'Congratulations, but...' there's always a but haha, he told me: 'If I see you getting another warning for track limits for nothing, I'm going to stretch your neck like a chicken,' those were his words, so yes, it's something I definitely have to work on" joked the Italian.
The young driver also highlighted the fundamental role of his family in his career: "Having a great team around me, having a great family around me has helped me on this journey so far and is still doing so of course. Obviously I've been with Mercedes since 2018, so I've grown up with them" he stated.
Antonelli underscored the importance of his relationship with his father: "My father is like my rock because we share so many things together and I always like to hear his point of view after sessions, after a race, after qualifying, because that's what we've been doing since karting. Having someone like him by my side on this journey, especially in a year like this, is very important to have that family support, especially from someone who knows me better than anyone" he explained.
The championship leader also referred to his performance in the first half of the season: "I think I've been one of the best, but I wouldn't say I've been the best driver on the grid, but to be fair if I look back, I think we were the ones who made the fewest mistakes and I think that's what has brought us here and allowed us to get good results" he stated.
Antonelli highlighted the good execution together with the team: "In terms of execution, together with the team, we've done an incredible job and that's allowed us to get into that position. So in that sense we did very well in this first half" he concluded.
The Italian leads the drivers' championship with a 25 point advantage over George Russell, and trusts that the second half of the season will be equally successful.
