The miracle is accomplished: at just 19 years old, Kimi Antonelli wins the Chinese GP, becoming the second youngest ever winner of Formula 1 after Max Verstappen. Italy returns to the top step after 20 years and Mercedes definitively anoints its champion. Something that Maranello and Ferrari fans cannot fully appreciate.

But the thing that makes him human and decidedly likeable to us at the end of his extraordinary ride is that admission in favor of the camera… “Now let me cry”. It’s fitting that Kimi Antonelli doesn’t hold back his tears after crossing the finish line of the Chinese Grand Prix. At 19 years and 243 days he became the second youngest driver ever to win a Formula 1 race. Better than him only Max Verstappen who won in Spain in 2016 at 18 years and 228 days. Antonelli brings Italy back to the top step of the podium exactly twenty years after the last time, when Giancarlo Fisichella won, Malaysia 2006.

“I can’t believe it – stammers Antonelli as he gets out of his Mercedes, using his suit to dry his tears – thanks to the team, they helped me make this dream come true…”. The voice breaks again, the emotion takes over. It is the image of a boy who fulfilled a dream he had pursued since he was a child, when at the age of seven he got into his first kart.

The new Sinner of motoring

The parallel with Jannik Sinner is inevitable and not accidental. Also because the two are good friends. Not only to the delight of their respective sponsors, Antonelli had his photo taken in the stands when Jannik was playing, inviting him onto the track.

Like the South Tyrolean tennis player, Antonelli represents a new generation of Italian athletes: humble, prepared, determined. “One day to become like Jannik Sinner or Valentino Rossi? That’s the goal and I hope to get to that level as soon as possible,” Kimi himself had declared in an interview two years ago, before his debut.

Naturally, it was with Sinner that he formed a friendship that goes beyond sport: “I have to ask him how he manages certain pressures at the highest level, how you remain yourself even when you’re on top of the world. In the end, despite both having a great team behind us, we experience all the enthusiasm and responsibilities of an individual sport. I’m happy that Jannik is a good friend…”.

And therefore, just like Sinner in tennis, Kimi Antonelli is changing the international perception of Italian sport. No longer just passion and talent, but also method, discipline and absolute professionalism. Mercedes understood this immediately, entrusting him with a world championship car in place of Lewis Hamilton, who moved to Ferrari. A bet that is proving to be a winning one. Anyone who wonders why these intuitions are not the basis of Maranello’s strategy finds their answer in an analysis from some time ago, again here on Today… “Because evidently Mercedes was interested in a driver, Ferrari wanted a marketing tool to sell more and better”.

The predestined who forges ahead

Antonelli’s career is a collection of very early records and titles. From 2018 to 2021 he dominated international karting, winning six titles in a single season and winning the CIK-FIA European Championship twice in a row. Then the transition to single-seaters was a continuous escalation: three titles in Formula 4 in 2022, with 20 victories out of 36 possible races, and the double in Formula Regional in 2023.

But it is the leap from Formula Regional directly to Formula 2, bypassing Formula 3, that certifies that we are faced with an extraordinary talent. “The limit is so high that it is difficult to understand it in such a short time – Antonelli himself explained to Sinner during their tour together in Abu Dhabi – and perhaps it is even a good thing not to understand it”. An impressive technical maturity for a nineteen year old.

In short, it’s not like he arrived at Mercedes without being announced. And in fact Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal, had identified him as early as 2019, including him in the Mercedes Junior Academy when Kimi was just 15 years old. The bet was clear: prepare Hamilton’s successor. And today that bet is already a reality.

Victory in China: control and final thrill

The Shanghai race was a demonstration of Antonelli’s maturity. Starting from pole position, he controlled the race with a lead of up to 9.5 seconds over teammate George Russell. Then, in the final laps, the thrill: a lockup at the hairpin bend on the back straight created a flat spot on the tires: “I allowed myself a small heart attack towards the end,” he admitted, smiling. But the advantage he accumulated allowed him to manage and bring home a historic victory.

“We are only at the beginning, we will continue to push – he declared post-race – George is an incredible rider, very strong, it will take a lot to beat him, but it is also a great opportunity to work with him because I am learning a lot”. One point behind Russell in the drivers’ standings, Antonelli is already a candidate as a possible protagonist in the fight for the world title.

The Ferrari problem

But if for Italy and for Mercedes Antonelli’s victory is a joy, for Ferrari it represents a growing problem. The choice to focus on Lewis Hamilton, 41 years old, instead of investing in a young Italian talent showed all its limits last season, confirming itself also in China where Hamilton still finished third, but over 25 seconds behind Antonelli, in a gap with Mercedes that seems unbridgeable.

The Red team let Antonelli slip away, even though he had been followed with interest during his karting years. Maranello’s choice to rely on Hamilton’s experience and the pairing with Charles Leclerc seemed the right one on paper, but on the field the results speak clearly: Mercedes has the present and the future, Ferrari is chasing the times of others with a champion from the past. And the bitter irony is that Italy returns to win in Formula 1 with a Mercedes, not with a Ferrari.

A generational phenomenon

Like Sinner in tennis, Antonelli represents a paradigm shift in Italian sport. No longer just heart and instinct, but also head, preparation, ability to manage pressure: “I said that I wanted to bring Italy back to the top, and we succeeded today”, he declared emotionally after the victory. “Although I’m surprised to be the first Italian to win since 2006,” he says.

Mercedes has found its new champion. Italy has found its new sporting idol. Ferrari has discovered that it has let a potential phenomenon escape. And Formula 1 has a new protagonist who promises to be talked about for the next ten to fifteen years.

“I will focus race after race – concluded Antonelli with the maturity of a veteran – we will see where we are at the end of the year”. But already today, after just three races in Formula 1, his name is written in history. And Shanghai’s tears could be just the first in a long series of emotions.