Valentino Rossi admits he couldn’t beat Kimi Antonelli’s record at Italian karting track

Follow us on Google Discover

MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi has revealed how he first met Kimi Antonelli by demanding to meet the driver whose lap record he could not beat at an Italian karting circuit.

While Valentino Rossi has brought a massive amount of success to Italy through his exploits in MotoGP, Kimi Antonelli is hoping to end over 70 years of drought for the country in F1. The most recent Italian F1 champion is Alberto Ascari, from the 1953 season.

Kimi Antonelli has visited Valentino Rossi’s ranch during the break – But which F1 driver would win a race on MotoGP bikes?

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Despite the obvious differences in their categories of motorsport, Rossi’s wisdom has still allowed him to advise Antonelli during the infancy of his career.

Their relationship stretches back to before the young Italian had even set foot in an F1 car, with Rossi now detailing how his first meeting with the Mercedes star ended up coming to fruition.

• READ MORE: MotoGP star just pinpointed the biggest similarity between Lewis Hamilton and Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi recalls how he demanded to meet Kimi Antonelli after failing to beat his lap record

In an interview with Motorsport Italia ahead of Rossi’s entry into the coveted 24 Hours of Spa next weekend, the nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing world champion was asked about his relationship with the F1 championship leader.

“I’m really proud of Kimi and happy with what he’s doing,” he began. “We’ve been friends for a few years now, ever since I heard his name being mentioned on the go-kart tracks. We went for a spin on this track in Migliaro, which is near Ravenna.

Your championship standings after the Barcelona GP. How worried should Kimi Antonelli be about Lewis Hamilton?

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

“There was Nick, the owner of this track, who said: ‘Ah, there’s this young lad called Kimi.’ And by the way, Kimi isn’t exactly a name you’d forget, is it? So we went for a spin, and he held the track record.

“I said: ‘Blimey, I want to meet him at once,’ and that’s where we met. To see him make it to Formula 1 now and to see him win like this is brilliant. We’re huge fans, both me and the lads from the Academy.

“It’s brilliant for Italy to finally have an Italian driver winning in Formula 1, because, gosh, maybe we’ve never had one this strong before, or you’d have to go back to the 60s or 70s.”

• READ MORE: Valentino Rossi recalls ‘paranoid’ Michael Schumacher meeting during Ferrari F1 test

Valentino Rossi would ‘love’ to race GT3 cars with Kimi Antonelli, but faces one problem

Rossi also expressed a keen interest in teaming up with Antonelli in GT3 machinery. The Mercedes star is no slouch when it comes to racing touring cars, having won on his debut in the 2023 Italian GT championship at just 16 years old.

Antonelli has also revealed his desire to compete in endurance races, akin to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, but Rossi detailed how a conflict of manufacturers might make the partnership difficult to pull off.

“I’d absolutely love to do something together, it’s just that the problem is he’s with Mercedes and I’m with BMW, so that’s a bit of an issue,” he continued in his interview with the Italian outlet.

“Apart from the fact that Toto told him, ‘Before you race in the GT, you’ve got to win at least four world championships,’ because of Verstappen, right?”