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Kimi Antonelli shares this outstanding similarity to Hamilton
A new set of challenges await both Lewis Hamilton and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. While the Briton will join Ferrari after spending more than a decade with Mercedes and has never driven a car without the Germans' power unit, Antonelli will replace Hamilton at Mercedes. Hamilton also shares one similarity with the Italian.
For the first time since Antonio Giovanazzi drove for Alfa Romeo, there will be an Italian on the Formula One grid once again in 2025. Talking at the Festival dello Sport, Antonelli was asked what he thinks of Ferrari. "I was a Ferrari fan, [but] now I’m thinking about Mercedes." The Italian also shared that when he was younger, he also supported Sebastian Vettel. "Maybe I have a mug of him at home too."
The youngster's idol is Ayrton Senna, and looks up to the three-time world champion similarly to how Lewis Hamilton does. "I read a lot about him and I understood that he wasn’t just a great driver. And I like to think that I’m like him in that. If I could, I would love to have him as a teammate, it would be very difficult, but I would learn a lot."
Asked about what would Hamilton do if Antonelli finished ahead of him on the podium next season, he answered about the driver he will succeed at Mercedes: "He is a gentleman, he would congratulate me."
Hamilton thought about Ferrari when he was younger
At the same event a day before, Ferrari's team principal, Frederic Vasseur shared that when worked with Hamilton in junior categories, the Briton was already thinking about joining Ferrari one day. "In 2004, we were actually working together with him. He started with Mercedes, [but] he had always had in mind that sooner or later, he could get to Ferrari. So we started the debate a long time ago, but we always had it in mind," the Frenchman said.
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