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Andrea Kimi Antonelli has revealed the driver who inspired him to go into motorsport, and the significance of his racing number – number 12.
Ahead of the 2025 season, Kimi Antonelli revealed his racing hero is three-time champion Ayrton Senna, a driver who also inspired Lewis Hamilton.
“I always got really passionate when I saw videos of Senna,” the Italian said.
“Growing up I would watch all the DVDs of the seasons from the 1980s to the 2000s, and in one of them, I remember watching Ayrton and it really stood out.
“I know I was not lucky enough to watch him race, but when I watched all these videos I started to realise all these incredible races he has done.
“I watched the documentary and the recent series too. He is my idol because of who he was off the track as well as on it. An incredible driver, but a great person too.
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“That inspired me, and to achieve even a little part of what he did in my career would be so cool.”
Kimi also revealed Senna is one of the inspirations for his racing number – number 12 (Senna’s racing number during his Lotus and early McLaren years). However, there are also other reasons.
“It is because of Ayrton. But, it is also the number I first used in single seaters. From F4 I started to use 12 straight away and it worked pretty well with that number. Hopefully I can carry that on in F1.
“I was also 12 years old when I joined the Mercedes junior programme, so there is that too,” Antonelli concluded.
