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Marco Antonelli saw Kimi’s title potential in Australian GP recovery

Conceptual AI-generated editorial motorsport illustration; not a documentary photograph or evidence that a pictured event, meeting or transfer occurred. · 2026-11-05GPBeat newsroom · News Made Clear generated illustration

Marco Antonelli says Kimi’s recovery from an FP3 crash at the Australian season opener was the moment he saw his son as a potential Formula 1 title contender.

From the GPBeat newsroomPublished · · 1 min

After Kimi Antonelli’s title win, his father Marco pointed to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as the moment he saw his son as a title contender. Kimi crashed in FP3, returned to the car and qualified on the front row — a recovery Marco said he had not expected.

The interviewer raised George Russell’s Melbourne win as a counterpoint. Marco pointed to Kimi’s qualifying effort: he said the car had been completed only at the very last moment, and Kimi did not know whether its set-up was right.

Marco said a crash like that inevitably costs a driver a little confidence and credited Kimi’s mental strength for turning the weekend around. “And that’s where I saw the champion,” he said.

Marco said he knew Kimi would be in the fight but could not have imagined how far the season would go. Kimi became Formula 1’s youngest-ever world champion at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Sources 01
  1. SOURCEMarco Antonelli: "I saw the champion in Kimi after his Australia crash"Motorsport.com F1