Formula 1 may experience an unprecedented moment at this year’s Italian GP. For the category’s CEO, Stefano Domenicali, Kimi Antonelli’s rise could even change the traditional scene of the Monza grandstands.
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The Mercedes driver will arrive at his home race leading the championship, as he holds a 50-point advantage over Lewis Hamilton and will remain at the top regardless of the result at the Dutch GP. This scenario raises expectations for a battle between an Italian defending Mercedes and the Ferrari cars in front of the local crowd.
In an interview with the press, Domenicali said he expects a different atmosphere at the Italian circuit: “Monza will be an incredible event where, perhaps for the first time, we will see a different color in the grandstands besides the traditional red. Kimi Antonelli is growing not only around the world, but as you can imagine, also in Italy. It will be fascinating to understand the dimension of Kimi’s fans in Monza,” he said.
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The executive also highlighted that Antonelli’s impact goes beyond the results achieved in only his second season in Formula 1. According to Domenicali, the nineteen-year-old’s performance, combined with his personality, is attracting an increasingly younger audience to the category: “The effect of Kimi, not only because of the level of performance, but also as a character and personality, is bringing a very young generation to our ecosystem, something beneficial for all of us,” he said.
Despite the Italian’s excellent campaign, Domenicali reminded that the championship remains open. After the sequence of five consecutive wins between the Chinese and Monaco GPs, predictions arose that Mercedes would dominate the season, but the scenario changed in the following races, with wins by Hamilton, George Russell, Charles Leclerc, and Lando Norris: “At the beginning of the year many said the championship was already decided. In reality, that did not happen. We will still see many things until the end of the season, more teams will fight for wins and more drivers will be able to win. All these elements make the championship very interesting until the end,” he added.
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