Long ago, when Formula 1's Lewis Hamilton was still with Mercedes-AMG F1, he shut off his phone and was unreachable for a weekend. A thing he's known to do from time to time. Now, that might not be cause for concern for most, but his boss was Toto Wolff, the team's principal, and one of Lewis' closest friends. It was also during the season, and that's sort of a no-no.
It turned out that Lewis had intentionally shut his phone off, as he was doing something he knew Toto wouldn't have liked, i.e., he was out racing motorcycles with Valentino Rossi. Worse than that, he had crashed said motorcycle, and didn't want to tell Toto. The manager eventually found out, as Toto got a hold of Lewis' engineer, who was with him, but it became the stuff of legend, and a story the boss relayed to Dax Shepard on his Armchair Expert podcast a few months ago.
Why am I telling you this old story? Because it seems that Mercedes-AMG F1's newest phenom, Kimi Antonelli, may have a similarly rebellious streak, and one in the same vein as Hamilton, as the young driver took the impromptu holiday break between racing to go hang out with Valentino and the superstar's off-road ranch in Italy.
I wonder if Toto knew? And many others are wondering the same thing.
(Update: Seems like Antonelli wasn't racing with the crew, only spectating. The article has been updated to reflect that.)
According to the post, which Kimi posted himself, the young Italian has been hanging out with MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi, as well as Aprilia's current superstar, Marco Bezzecchi, and VR46's Franco Morbidelli, at Rossi's ranch in Tavullia, Italy. For those who are coming from the Formula 1 world, Rossi is a 9-time champ, is the team boss at VR46 (Valentino Rossi and 46 for his old number), and has been the go-between for Formula 1 drivers and their motorcycle habits for the last two decades.
He also has a lot of opinions...
But there's no denying that Rossi would be the man to know when it comes to getting trained up on two wheels, as well as figuring out what it takes to be fast on both. Rossi is also a racecar driver himself, having competed at Le Mans, and a host of other endurance series. And back when Hamilton was still with the Mercedes crew, the pair swapped seats, with Rossi taking Hamilton's F1 car out for a spin, and Hamilton taking Rossi's MotoGP bike out. According to those who were there on the day of the swap, both could've raced in each other's respective series and been competitive, which is saying a lot about each.
It is interesting, however, that Antonelli is eyeing what could be pushing the limits within the team. He is young, sure, but I didn't quite peg him for someone who'd be up for such immediate potential hooliganism. Hamilton? Sure. George? Absolutely not. Antonelli? That's interesting. Honestly, it makes me like him a lot more. Hopefully, this means he has some personality and isn't just a robot or tool.
Hey, Kimi, if you ever want to ride bikes or drive cars, let's go!
