Formula One F1 - Bahrain Grand Prix - Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain - April 10, 2025 Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli speaks to members of the media ahead of the race REUTERS/Rula Rouhana
SAKHIR, Bahrain (Reuters) -Mercedes' teenage rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli says he would like to talk Formula One with Kimi Raikkonen after recalling how the Finn lived up to his famed 'Iceman' nickname when they first met.
Raikkonen won the drivers' world championship with Ferrari in 2007. Antonelli was born in Bologna a year earlier when the Finn was still racing for the Mercedes-powered McLaren team.
The Italian, 18, has said he was not named after the Finn.
"I met him when I was quite little, I think it was 2018," Antonelli told reporters at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Thursday when asked if he had ever asked the other Kimi, now 45, for advice.
"He was doing the Monza GP. The first time I met him I understood why they call him the Iceman, to be honest, because I remember going to him super excited and he had completely no reaction.
"But I think he's such a cool dude. I never really got the chance to properly have a chat with him, but definitely something I would like to do.
"It would be cool also to have some advice about racing for sure because he has done a lot in the sport. So definitely something I would like to do in the future."
Antonelli has taken the place of seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, now at Ferrari, at Mercedes and has scored points in his first three races.
Last weekend, in Japan, he became the youngest driver to lead a race and set the fastest lap.
Raikkonen's 10-year-old son Robin is already a promising go-karter.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
