Newly crowned F1 world champion Kimi Antonelli posed in Ayrton Senna‘s iconic black and gold Lotus ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix. The Italian driver visited the icon’s family and sat inside the Lotus 98T as he shared the image via social media on Tuesday.
Antonelli shared a heartfelt caption along with the image, as he wrote:
“Unforgettable day 💚💛 Obrigado to the whole Senna family. It will take some time to sink in, but I will carry these memories with me forever. 🙏🏻”
Senna’s car is, of course, labeled with the number 12, which was made iconic by the three-time world champion during his time in the sport. Antonelli also uses the same number and has shared that one of the reasons for doing so is his admiration for Senna.
On Sunday, the 20-year-old became the first driver since Senna in 1988 to win the world championship using the number 12.
Kimi Antonelli Will Stay With Number 12 in 2027
After he clinched the title in Mexico City last week, Antonelli confirmed that he will not change his race number to 1 for next year. Instead, he will stick with the number 12, which has a special meaning for him. He also added that he is superstitious and has not had the greatest of luck racing with number 1 in junior categories before.
“I think I’ll stay with number 12 because, obviously, it’s a very special number for me. But also it’s a way for me to stay grounded, to stay humble, and I feel like by keeping number 12 it allows me to have a new point where to start and build on everything again and try to improve,” said Antonelli.
“And also, to be honest, I’m very superstitious, and number 1 has never been a good number for me. Whenever I put it, it went extremely badly. So one more reason to stay with number 12,” he added.
Kimi Antonelli Set to Pay Special Tribute to Ayrton Senna at the Brazilian GP
Kimi Antonelli revealed after the Mexican GP that he will be paying a tribute to Senna at the upcoming Brazilian GP with a special helmet design. This will serve as a tribute to celebrate the legendary figure’s first win in Brazil in 1991, over 35 years ago.
“Yeah, I will have a special helmet for Brazil, for Ayrton. Also because it’s going to be 35 years since he won in sixth gear, his home race. So, yeah, it’s going to be a tribute helmet for Brazil, for Ayrton, and I think it’s one of my best helmets that I’ve made,” said Antonelli.
“So hopefully you guys, everyone, hopefully you will like it,” he added.
Antonelli then added that the Brazilian GP will be a ‘special weekend’ following his world championship triumph. He explained that he has always received ‘incredible’ support from the people of Brazil from the beginning of his career in F1 in 2025.
While Antonelli has not revealed the helmet design at the time of writing, he has shared visuals of a special one-off purple race suit for the Brazilian GP this weekend.
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