While many F1 drivers walked the red carpet in New York, Kimi Antonelli went back to school.
Having celebrated his first-ever podium in Montreal, the Italian teenager simply went home. “I’ll prepare him pasta with ragu – his favourite dish,” 18-year-old Antonelli’s mother, Veronica, told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Racing isn’t everything and I’ve always wanted him to finish his studies.”
Indeed, Antonelli went straight from Montreal to Italy, so that he could join his classmates at the public technical and commercial high school Gaetano Salvemini near his native Bologna.
As he emerged from his first final exam, he revealed that he would return the next day for his final English exam. “It’s the subject I do best in,” Kimi smiled.
“The one I struggle with the most has always been mathematics.”
The final test he needs to undergo will be an oral presentation, before he then heads off to Austria ahead of his next Formula 1 race with Mercedes.
When asked if he would prefer 100 per cent at the Red Bull Ring or 100 per cent in his exams, Antonelli smiled: “How about both?”
He says a big motivation for continuing to go to school, although his destiny appears to be riches and success in Formula 1, is his mother.
Veronica Antonelli confirmed: “I don’t care if he’s a driver – my greatest pride is having raised a good boy.”
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