David Coulthard, who conducted the televised post-race interviews at the Chinese Grand Prix, has recounted his emotional interview with Kimi Antonelli after the Italian driver scored his maiden Formula 1 win.
Antonelli became overwhelmed with emotion following the race at the Shanghai International Circuit as he became the second-youngest driver to win an F1 race. “I’m speechless,” the 19-year-old driver said after the race. “I’m about to cry, to be honest. Thank you so much to my team, because they helped me to achieve this dream.”
During an episode of the Up To Speed podcast, former driver Coulthard shared his point of view of the touching moment.
“Yeah, look, it did feel, as an older… I was going to say gentleman, but some people might question that. As an older man, I could feel for him as a young racer,” the former Red Bull driver said.
“He’s only a couple of years older than my son, so I’m looking, in my eyes, at a boy. Of course, he’s a man, but he’s a boy-man in my eyes. And for him to get away at the beginning of the chat, absolutely fine. And then I think he caught his father’s eye behind the barriers, and I think that’s what triggered the tears.
“And when we’re doing television, I’m getting someone in my ear saying, ‘Move on to George.’ But it felt to me that that would have lost that moment. It was a beautiful moment because this is someone who’s a boy-man, realising his dream of being a grand prix winner.
“And this could set him on a way towards being one of the youngest ever world champions as well, if he has this continued run because right now Mercedes are looking pretty hot.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images
He added: “What I find so impressive is, I know it’s a few generations after my time, but to do it at 19. I first drove a grand prix car at 19. I got to drive the McLaren-Honda of Senna as part of a young driver award. And I remember coming away from that going, ‘Oh, it’s just a car.’ Because when you look at Formula 1 from the outside, you just think it’s this spaceship.
“But actually, it was a great way for me to realise it’s just a car. But it was a further four years before I entered Formula 1. And by that point, I’m not going to say I was a man, I probably didn’t quite get to that until I was about 30. But I won my first Grand Prix at 24, 25 almost.
“So, how they can take it in, how they can actually understand the world around them. I think it was Arvid Lindblad who, when he got points in his first grand prix, said that he’s been working for this his whole life.
“I’m thinking his whole life, my working life is longer than the life he’s actually been on planet Earth.”
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