'Champion of the world!’: Listen to the radio that made Kimi Antonelli cry in Mexico City
The Mercedes driver beats Vettel’s record and ends Italy’s 73-year wait for an F1 champion
Dubai: It took a few seconds of screaming and sobbing before Kimi Antonelli could say anything at all.
When the Mercedes driver crossed the line in third place at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday, he became Formula One’s youngest world champion at 20 years and 68 days. The race started at midnight UAE time.
What followed on the team radio has since been shared widely by fans.
The moment it sank in
His race engineer, Peter Bonnington, was first on the radio.
“Get in there Kimi, champion of the world!” Bonnington shouted. “This is a pretty special day, records being broken all over the place.”
Antonelli screamed, then broke down in tears. “We did it! Thank you so much,” he said.
Bonnington, known in the paddock as “Bono”, engineered Lewis Hamilton to six world titles at Mercedes. He kept going.
“Beautiful work, Kimi. It’s a real pleasure being part of the journey with you, mate,” he said. “But yeah, it’s just the first chapter.”
Then came the practical part. “So, champ, you’re going to be pulling up in the stadium section; there will be a board there with your new title.”
Toto Wolff joins in
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who signed Antonelli to the team’s junior programme when he was 11, came on next.
“Kimi we did it, world champion, we did it,” Wolff said.
Antonelli later explained why he slowed right down on his cool-down lap. “I just backed off because I just couldn’t see the track,” he said, Al Jazeera reported.
The race behind the radio
The title didn’t come easily. Antonelli started fourth and stayed there for much of the race. He had stayed out longer on his tyres, hoping for a safety car that never came, Grand Prix 247 reported.
On lap 46, Valtteri Bottas’s suspension failed under braking into Turn 1, sending him into the barriers. Bottas walked away, but the damage brought out the red flag while the barriers were repaired.
At the standing restart, Charles Leclerc locked up, and Antonelli went past him into third. He held that position to the flag, about four seconds behind race winner Max Verstappen. He needed only two points to clinch the title.
A different kind of tension
Antonelli admitted the weekend weighed on him more than usual. “This weekend I did feel a little more tense. I’m just so happy I got it done,” he said, via Yahoo Sports.
“It’s been an incredible season,” he added. “I look forward to more battles in the future.”
From his first win to the title
The radio message in Mexico City echoed his first Grand Prix win, in China in March.
“Yes Kimi! Come on, my son,” Bonnington said that day. Antonelli replied: “Yes! Yes, man! We did it! You made me achieve one of my dreams. Thank you,” RaceFans reported.
Eight months and eight more wins later, the dream was a world title.
Speaking on the podium, between Verstappen and Hamilton, he was still trying to take it in.
“I wouldn’t be here without Mercedes, without my family, so I’m very grateful for this moment, and it’s one that will live forever,” Antonelli said. “And I just I’m speechless. I’m trying to process what has just happened.”
Next up for the new champion is Brazil this weekend. The season ends at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit from December 3 to 6.
