This week at Austria’s Red Bull Ring, Andrea ‘Kimi’ Antonelli, a 17-year-old talent guided by Toto Wolff, experienced driving a Formula 1 car for the first time. The teenager, whose moniker honors the 2007 F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen, took control of the 2021 championship-winning Mercedes. Post-drive, he expressed his thrill, saying, “I loved every second of it.”
Surpassing even Andrea in youth, Robin Raikkonen, at just nine years old, is making significant strides in international karting. Robin is the son of the renowned ex-F1 racer from Ferrari and McLaren, Kimi Raikkonen.
Racing expert and close family acquaintance Toni Vilander, who currently offers commentary for Viaplay, discussed Robin’s progress in an interview with Iltalehti newspaper. “I think Kimi (Raikkonen) is proceeding very sensibly with Robin,” he noted. He also reflected on how the racing scene has evolved, mentioning, “Compared to our day, the biggest change is that everything happens at a much younger age.” He further elaborated, “By the age of 10, you already need experience in Italy now.”
Vilander praised the Raikkonen family’s discreet approach to sharing Robin’s racing outcomes. “The family is doing everything very cleverly. They post Robin’s results a little later, so that not everyone knows what they’re doing.”
Mika Salo, another former F1 star from Finland, speculated on Robin’s potential career trajectory. “Obviously we have to remember that he’s still a child,” Salo cautioned, “so it’s completely premature to predict what will happen in the future.” He highlighted the financial and social resources required for an F1 career, estimating, “But I’ve calculated that the entire journey from karting to Formula 1 costs about 10 million euros. And as we know, Kimi has money but also exceptionally strong contacts and an excellent reputation.”
Robin currently competes for CRG, a team that has also supported the early careers of F1 legends like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, underscoring the team’s prestigious history in nurturing racing talent.
GMM
