Barcelona Grand Prix: Stage Preview

      The Italian karting school is one of the best in the world. Numerous tracks, excellent climate, magnificent technical level, optimal combination of price and quality, high level of competition – most of the strongest drivers in Europe raced there in their childhood and youth.

      However, the Italians struggled for a long time with their local drivers, despite all the efforts of the federation, which helped prepare local athletes with its limited funds. Until Kimi Antonelli appeared, of whom they are now incredibly proud.

      But Kimi is not a product of the federation. He was born on August 25, 2006, in Bologna to a regionally known driver, Marco Antonelli, and with his father's support, he excelled in karting. His successes caught the attention of Giovanni Minardi – the son of a former Formula 1 team owner, and by the age of 12 – on Giovanni's recommendation – he found himself in the Mercedes program.

      In this glorious and fast young boy, Mercedes saw an investment opportunity that could lead to victories in the future. Antonelli was included in the budget, given the chance to compete – and good coaches who worked with him. But it should be noted that in these programs, out of a hundred participants, only a few achieve success – thanks to their personal qualities and talent. Kimi had such talent.

      Antonelli won titles in karting tournaments one after another (though he lost to our Nikita Bedrin in the WSK Super Master), suffered a serious injury to his left leg in 2020, but ultimately became the rookie of the year at the end of the FIA Karting season.

      By the way, his second name – Kimi – was suggested to his father by Enrico Bertaggia – a winner of the Italian Formula 3 and a participant in nine Formula 1 Grands Prix, who did not stand out in them. Before that, Kimi was simply called Andrea. Andryukha. Enrico claimed that this second name has no relation to Raikkonen, although who would believe that now? The first Kimi has already admitted that he supports this "second" Kimi in Formula 1.

      And this glorious boy Kimi, whose youth and inexperience Mercedes criticized just as harshly a year ago as they once did Peter Sauber for Kimi Raikkonen, will come to the upcoming stage of the 2026 season in Barcelona as the absolute leader of the World Championship, with a 68-point advantage over his experienced and talented teammate George Russell.

      Incredible. Six months ago, could anyone have imagined this?

      Toto could. A year ago, when he took Kimi as a replacement for Hamilton, who moved to Ferrari, he forgave Antonelli all his crashes and failures. In the fall, he said: “Every diamond needs polishing to shine in all its beauty, and we have no doubt that this will ultimately happen.”

      And in the spring of this year, after the crash in Melbourne, Wolff did not scold Kimi but said – this was live on Sky and is very memorable – “Keep believing in yourself.” Since then, Antonelli has won five races in a row.

      It is incredibly interesting to follow the developments of the World Championship this year precisely because everything is unfolding this way. There is almost no doubt that Russell will catch up – after all, experience and the best car in the championship matter, but this is truly great.

      In Barcelona, the most efficient car always wins, and it doesn't matter so much whether it is better than others in aerodynamics or engine power. The Catalan track ranks cars so accurately in qualifying that they almost finish in the same order in the race – in Barcelona, the statistics of wins from pole position are even more convincing than in Monaco.

      From the perspective of the calendar's density, a very intense stretch lies ahead, which will occupy the entire summer except for the important break in August. Usually, federations and television companies try to space out key sporting events, but this year the schedule of European Grands Prix conveniently complements the evening schedule of the World Cup matches taking place in Mexico, the USA, and Canada.

      Well, for the next seven weeks, we have five Grands Prix and a long summer break ahead, followed by an intense end to the season. It will be interesting!