Antonelli will wear a Senna tribute helmet in Brazil this weekend. Two years ago (right) he joined a tribute, 30 years after Senna's death
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Kimi Antonelli has no intention of taking the number one into his first season as world champion. Instead, he will stick with the number 12 that has accompanied him throughout his Formula 1 career and which carries a special significance for the young Italian.
It was the number Ayrton Senna used when he won his first world championship with McLaren in 1988. Senna was the inspiration behind Antonelli’s choice, and now the Mercedes driver has achieved the same feat, winning his maiden title with that number on his car.
Rather than change it for 2027, Antonelli intends to keep the connection alive and, ahead of this weekend’s race, explained why he finds inspiration from the three-time champion.
Antonelli’s decision to retain his racing number is partly personal, but also reflects how he wants to approach the next stage of his career.
“I think I’ll stay with number 12,” he said after securing the championship in Mexico. “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.”
There is also a more practical consideration, albeit one that says something about Antonelli’s personality.
Antonelli celebrates becoming Formula 1 world champion in Mexico, having achieved his lifelong ambition in only his second season
Mercedes
The 20-year-old admitted he is superstitious, and has never had much luck whenever he has used the number one.
“Whenever I put it, it went extremely badly,” he explained. “So one more reason to stay with number 12.”
The decision means Antonelli will begin his championship defence with the same number that inspired him to choose it in the first place.
There is something fitting about that continuity, particularly given the timing of his first race as world champion in Brazil.
Antonelli is will wear a special helmet for this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, dedicated to Senna, and began the race weekend by visiting the three-time champion’s grave.
It’s another acknowledgement of the influence the three-time world champion has had on his choice of number, and a particularly appropriate gesture at a circuit where Senna remains such an important figure.
The occasion also carries a significant historical anniversary. This year marks 35 years since Senna’s extraordinary victory at Interlagos in 1991, when he struggled with a gearbox problem that left him stuck in sixth gear during the closing stages. Despite the physical toll of the effort, he held on to win his home race for the first time.
“I will have a special helmet for Brazil, for Ayrton,” said Antonelli after winning the title. It’s going to be a tribute helmet… and I think it’s one of my best helmets that I’ve made.”
Ahead of this weekend’s race, Antonelli revealed more about why he is so inspired by a driver who died 12 years before the new world champion was born. “Definitely the driver he was, he was incredible,” Antonelli told Reuters. “But as well, his work ethic, his attitude, how dedicated and how much passion he had for the sport. Then the person he was, very empathetic, someone who was trying to give back what he was receiving.
“All these things are the ones that caught my attention when I was a kid and that’s why I got inspired by him from such a young age,”
Antonelli is clearly looking forward to experiencing the atmosphere in Brazil again, having already enjoyed considerable support from the country’s fans.
Senna won his first title sporting No12 on his McLaren
Grand Prix Photo
“It’s going to be a very special weekend,” he said in Mexico. “I’m very much looking forward to it because the support from Brazil in general has been incredible, not only this year but already from last year.”
His helmet will be one way of acknowledging that connection, but the decision to retain number 12 arguably carries even greater significance. It is a reminder of where his inspiration came from, while also allowing him to establish his own identity as a world champion.
Antonelli has spent much of his young career under the spotlight, first as a highly rated Mercedes junior and then as the teenager entrusted with replacing Lewis Hamilton. His debut season brought difficult moments and plenty of criticism from those who questioned whether he was ready for such a demanding environment.
He has since admitted that some of those doubts were understandable at the time, but he also believes the experience of facing those challenges at Mercedes accelerated his development.
“Experiencing really low and difficult situations, high-pressure moments, really helped me to face certain situations this year,” he said. “And definitely they made me mature a lot as a driver and as a person.”
That maturity was reflected in the consistency he identified as the defining feature of his championship campaign.
Superstition is also behind Antonelli’s decision to keep No12
Mercedes
Rather than pointing to one particular victory, Antonelli highlighted the team’s ability to limit the damage during difficult weekends, while maintaining the enjoyment and enthusiasm that had driven him since childhood.
He also knows that winning the championship doesn’t mean the learning process is over. His comments about retaining number 12 were accompanied by an insistence that there is still plenty to build on and improve.
Antonelli believes the difficulties of his rookie season, when his readiness for Formula 1 was questioned, played an important part in preparing him for this year’s title challenge.
Mercedes took a gamble when it promoted Kimi Antonelli to Formula 1 before he had even completed a season in F2. Now a world champion, the Italian has vindicated that faith
“It’s always good to shut off some of the noise, and, of course, I think in many ways it does help to add fuel to the fire, the fact that some people said that I wasn’t belonging to Formula 1 or I wasn’t ready for it,” he said.
“At some point last year, probably it looked like that. I wasn’t ready for it. But I think last year, being able to experience those moments made me much more ready as well ahead of this year.”
The experience of dealing with difficult situations and performing under pressure accelerated his development, he believes. Being thrown straight into Mercedes, rather than spending time at a smaller team, forced him to mature more quickly.
“Last year, being able to race straight into Mercedes, obviously straight under the spotlight, made me grow much, much faster than if I would have gone to a smaller team, for example,” he explained.
That doesn’t mean he considers himself a finished product. Antonelli acknowledged that there were still occasions this season when he could have performed better, describing his progress as a constant learning process.
It is a mindset that also explains his reluctance to take the number one. Rather than allowing the championship to define him, he wants to approach next season as another opportunity to improve.
