We went from Sundays divided between the Rossa (Ferrari) and Rossi (Valentino) to those with Kimi and Jannik, two special names for two exceptional – Italian – athletes. A long, extended Sunday, March 29th, which began with a fair amount of coffee to witness the second ring of the young career of Antonelli from Bologna in Formula 1.

After China he also won the historic Suzuka GP in Japan, bringing an Italian back to the top of the championship, something that hadn’t happened since 2005, at the time of Giancarlo Fisichella on Renault who then won the constructors’ title. In the evening, however, Sinner beat his peer Jiří Lehečka in Miami, thus completing the “sunshine double”, the double of the American Masters 1000, after also putting the Indian Wells cup in his bag. Lehečka hadn’t lost a single set in this tournament: Jannik reminded him of the hierarchies of world tennis.

The two are friends

It’s great Italy, at all levels, if we exclude football and cycling, the most popular sports of the last century. The two brightest standard-bearers, among men, are a 24-year-old who has practically won almost everything (a Roland Garros is missing, the real goal for 2026) and a 19-year-old who was chosen at 12 years old by Mercedes. The management of the Stuttgart company had some understandable doubts when it was necessary to replace none other than Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion. The Austrian team principal Toto Wolff was convinced in mid-2024 and from there many hoped to see an Italian return to winning in the top category.

The two, Kimi and Jan, have become friends, they respect each other a lot, they send each other messages often. The bond was born above all at the last ATP Finals in Turin. The Bolognese went to enjoy the triumph of the most important Italian athlete of this historical phase. “I’m impressed by his mental strength during matches, perhaps when things aren’t going well. How many times has he overturned difficult situations? He manages to stay focused at all times, you learn from seeing him, it’s admirable”, observed the 19-year-old on the occasion.

Different characters

The younger one maintains a more open character, while Jannik is often criticized by the media for being careless towards everything that is not part of his “bubble”. He is Emilian, from Bologna, even if he does not reach the heights of bravado of Alberto Tomba, who expressed the desire to share a dinner. “It’s certainly very nice – explains Kimi – when there are more and more people who support you, but at the same time you have to be careful not to get carried away by popularity. The important thing is to always keep your feet on the ground and focus on what you have to do.” For his entire first season in F1 the theme of “pressure” was central in almost every interview: Antonelli did not debut in a minor team, but in the team that has won the most from 2014 to today.

For many, Kimi’s debut at 18 was a gamble

Kimi therefore studied Jannik, to learn how to manage external tensions and interference. He looked to him as an example of a young athlete called to make his space in an ultra-competitive environment. Having arrived in one of the hottest seats in the circus, he made a good debut in the 2025 season, silencing the criticisms coming from outside Italy: many had defined the Antonelli operation as too big a gamble for the Anglo-German team.

A mid-year crisis had also given some reason to the detractors. Kimi cried in despair in Spa, Belgium. At the time there was uncertainty about the team’s future and Wolff courted Max Verstappen to wear the silver-black colours. The Dutchman, fortunately, bailed out, remaining in RedBull. George Russell was reconfirmed and Kimi with him. On the other hand, the Bolognese is a bet from Wolff, who has invested a lot in this episode.

Furthermore, Mercedes went back, changing the wing and putting back the one used at the beginning of the season: Aka (Andrea Kimi Antonelli) recovered and ended the year on a high note. Not only that, in the last GPs of 2025 he put his nose in front, for the first time, of his more experienced teammate, Russell who always represents the true rival to beat along the way to the 2026 title. Yes, because this year the “Mercedes-AMG F1 W17 E Performance” is the single-seater that has best interpreted the new rules.

Remote messages

Then, two weeks ago, coincidence. Kimi wins his first GP in China. On that Italian evening the final was played in Indian Wells, California, and Sinner beat a revived Daniil Medvedev in two very tight sets. On the camera, with the marker, he writes “Great Kimi!”. And even in the official post-tournament speech he will pay homage to his almost contemporary: “it’s a special day for Italy, seeing an Italian taking us back to the top of F1 is fantastic. Thanks Kimi, thanks Formula 1”. On the other hand, he is a super car and motorsport enthusiast, together with his brother Mark. The driver, for his part, will tell Autosprint: “Sinner honestly left me speechless. I didn’t expect the dedication on the camera, it was beautiful.”

The bond with family

Emanuela Audisio on Repubblica, looking at the two “golden boys”, also includes the (long) jumper Mattia Furlani in the generational discussion. “Brazen youth. Lie down to whom? Jannik showed the way. They are the teenagers we complain about not knowing enough and yet who surprise us.” And again: “There is a thread that keeps these new Italian kids together even if they come from different places: simplicity, normality. They don’t live on anger or revenge, they don’t claim existential traumas. At the center of their lives remains the family with its bonds. Each of them went to live alone, but theirs wasn’t a polemical breakup, but a necessity.”

It is probably family that unites the two protagonists of Italian sport, who have been together for 43 years. For both they were the foundations on which to invest their talent, which blossomed thanks to dedication and perseverance. Families who have warned them and warned them (not everyone becomes a champion) and who work hard to keep them grounded. We will experience more beautiful Sundays with Jannik and Kimi, boys who grew up early. And if there is also the Romagna “Bez”, aka Marco Bezzecchi, on an Aprilia (a motorbike built in the Venetian town of Noale), celebrating in MotoGP from the top step of the podium, even better.