Antonelli brushes aside 'Raikkonen' mix-up following victory in China.

      "I didn’t want to believe it."

      Kimi Antonelli has expressed his confusion and amusement after being mistakenly introduced as Kimi Raikkonen on the podium following his significant victory in China. The 19-year-old Italian, whose win has already generated considerable excitement in Italy, shared that he was briefly unsure how to respond when veteran F1 announcer Bob Constanduros made the blunder. "I didn’t want to believe it," Antonelli told SportMediaset. "I didn’t know whether to go on the podium or not; I was so confused."

      Former driver and GPDA chairman Alex Wurz also found humor in the mix-up. "It’s hilarious because you know Bob, the announcer, just made a mistake," he remarked to ORF. "If he wins more frequently, it will become well-known that he is Andrea Kimi Antonelli from Italy."

      However, Antonelli is swiftly making a name for himself, with Italian media already dubbing him the country’s new star and speculating about a potential future with Ferrari. The Mercedes driver acknowledged that he had early interactions with the Maranello team during his childhood. "I had contact with Ferrari when I was 10 or 11 years old," he recounted. "But ultimately, Mercedes approached me first. They wanted to take a chance — at the end of 2017, Toto Wolff reached out to us. I’m very grateful to him."

      Despite the rising excitement, Antonelli remains grounded after his first Formula 1 victory. "I celebrated, and I’m still enjoying it," he stated. "It was my first victory, and you never forget your first. This is the most special win of my career, so it was important to savor it because I will remember it for the rest of my life. On Sunday night, I couldn’t sleep. I was traveling and hugging the photo of the trophy."

      He mentioned that the celebrations were understated. "I had a small party with about 10 friends — nothing more," Antonelli said. Regarding his ambitions, the young Italian is keeping his goals simple. "I’m not thinking about the title, but about how to keep winning," he stated.

      Antonelli also clarified the origin of his unique and unofficial middle name ‘Kimi,’ despite the inevitable comparisons to 2007 world champion Raikkonen. "My parents didn’t want a second Italian name," he explained to Bild. "They wanted something different. A friend suggested it, they liked it — and that’s how I got it."

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