Rossi advises Antonelli to dismiss the excitement surrounding the home race.

      "I didn't manage the energy of the fans very well."

      Kimi Antonelli acknowledges that his worst personal performance in his early Formula 1 career was closely tied to the excitement and fanfare surrounding his first home race. The 18-year-old Italian arrived at Imola, just a 30-minute train ride from his hometown of Bologna, bringing 100 plates of lasagna for the Mercedes race team. While still a high school student, he also invited his entire class to the event, along with several family members including his sister, and was warmly welcomed by the Italian media and 'Tifosi' with enthusiasm typically reserved for Ferrari.

      This all played out without the presence of Antonelli's mentor, Mercedes team boss and co-owner Toto Wolff, who usually remains connected through remote radio and data streams when not at the races. However, this time, for the first time, the Austrian was entirely disconnected from the happenings in Imola as he attended his eldest son's graduation ceremony in Los Angeles. "It will be the first race I’m completely cut off from," Wolff had commented to Bild newspaper. "This grand prix is particularly significant for Kimi. He will feel a lot of pressure from the Italian media. Just push aside anything that’s not beneficial for you."

      In truth, Antonelli, despite retiring due to a technical issue, faced a greater struggle than in any previous race of 2025. "I need to work on my driving," he acknowledged after the checkered flag. "I need to identify areas for improvement, particularly regarding my race pace in hot conditions. This was my worst weekend in terms of performance."

      The young driver openly admits that the excitement of his first home race affected him. "I didn’t manage the energy of the fans very well," Antonelli said. "I wasn't as calm—I felt more tense while driving. But I learned my lesson for the next home race. I didn’t take enough time for myself most of the time. I was expending energy unnecessarily, which impacted my performance in the car."

      In Wolff's absence, acting team boss Bradley Lord, the communications and media head, described Imola as a "bitter setback" for the Brackley-based team to Sky Deutschland. 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve criticized both Mercedes and Antonelli for letting the excitement influence their performance. "It’s cute," he sarcastically remarked to Sky, "he brought his friends—but this is his workplace. You don’t bring friends or family to your job."

      Villeneuve also noted that he had heard Gwen Lagrue, Mercedes’ driver development head, was "not super happy" with the additional events surrounding Antonelli’s Imola GP. Present at Imola was MotoGP icon Valentino Rossi, who has spent time karting with Antonelli. The 46-year-old offered advice to his young fellow countryman when asked by Sky Italia. "It was definitely challenging for him, the first weekend in Imola, in Italy," Rossi said. "It’s tough. With experience, he will start to decline some requests."