Antonelli – the boy 'born in a garage' who became world champion

Kimi Antonelli was a natural driver at the age of three, according to his dad. Here's how he developed to become the F1 champion at the age of 20. Antonelli – the boy 'born in a garage' who became world champion This is an updated version of an article first published in August 2026 Kimi Antonelli was 10 when his father Marco first realised the boy sitting on his lap, operating the steering and gears, might have an exceptional talent as a racing driver. The pair were at the Adria circuit in north-east Italy, Marco with his Lamborghini sports car team, Kimi competing in a karting race. It was the end of the day and Marco, a former driver himself, asked his son: "Do you want to try the Lamborghini?" Marco strapped himself and Kimi into the car, belts extended around both.

Dad was in charge of the throttle and brake, his son would control the rest. "I couldn't see the track because he was in front of me with a helmet on," Marco tells BBC Sport. "I could only see beside me the marker panels before each corner – 100m, 50m. "We started to drive, step by step, faster, faster, faster. In the end, I pushed like I was alone and I arrived at the braking point at the