Andrea Kimi Antonelli officially celebrates his record-breaking season on the stage of Caschi d'Oro Autosprint e Volanti ACI award ceremonies. The Bolognese driver born in 2006 could not do better in his flawless 2022 season. The young talent has not passed unnoticed by the Italian Federation, which has cradled his talent since the dawn of his career in karting, following him on the path of growth with the ACI Sport Federal School development programs, before receiving the well-deserved attention of Mercedes with the program dedicated to junior drivers. At the end of a fruitful career in karting, at the age of fifteen, he made his debut in the Italian F.4 Championship in the final round at Monza in 2021, finishing on the podium three times. His rising single-seater career then continued last year with a victory in the ACI Sport Federal School Supercorso Federale. In 2022 he picked up where he left off, taking part in the Italian F.4 Championship and winning the Championship with a record number of 13 victories. However, this is not the end of the year's successes for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who also won the German Formula 4 Championship and a gold medal in F.4 at the FIA Motorsport Games in a performance to be framed, leading the Italian team to the top step of the motorsport Olympics.
His efforts, studded with successes during his first full season in Formula 4, which saw him race under the PREMA Racing team banner, were therefore definitively framed with top honors at the gala evening dedicated to the Stars of national and international motorsport: the Autosprint Golden Helmet and the ACI Golden Steering Wheel. Antonelli took the stage then also to receive the plaque of recognition for his efforts in representing Italy at the FIA Motorsport Games, joined by all the teammates who wore the Italian colors in Marseille.
"I thank everyone for the invitation, I am truly honored to be here with all of you. It has been a wonderful season, with so many successes. Now we are focused on next year, we need to do just as well. I want to thank my family, all my sponsors, especially Prema who has helped me so much in this first full season in F.4 and I am so happy to be able to continue with them." commented Andrea Kimi Antonelli interviewed on stage before the cerimonial photos, continuing then with thanks to the Italian Federation for the support received since the karting days.
"We put a lot of trust in you, we need the youngs of your generation, who will soon become the Champions of Formula 1" was the response of Automobile Club d'Italia President Angelo Sticchi Damiani, who emphasized on stage the importance of the work done so far by the young driver from Bologna, counting him among the "spearheads" of the new generation of drivers launched towards success in the world of single-seaters.
The evening of the Autosprint and ACI awards, held Wednesday, December 21, at the PalaCongressi in Bologna, in the presence of Autosprint Director Andrea Cordovani and ACI President Angelo Sticchi Damiani, distinguished hosts, and presented by Federica Masolin and Camilla Ronchi was broadcast in full on ACI Sport TV. Among the award ceremonies for the main stars of the 2022 motorsport season and speeches by the distinguished personalities, there was also a video intervention by FIA President Ben Sulayem that further embellished the evening, which opened with a remembrance of Eng. Mauro Forghieri. The live streaming of the awarding ceremony is available to rewatch on ACI Sport TV's Facebook page at this link.
