Inside the rise of Kimi Antonelli: How a shock conversation with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, a close relationship with Bono and hand washing cars at home propelled Italian to cusp of F1 history

Lewis Hamilton had just sprung the surprise of his life on Mercedes. He was off to Ferrari, and so Kimi Antonelli was called in by Toto Wolff , the Austrian team principal who had supported his talent like a second father since he was 12. One insider remembers the moment vividly. Antonelli was 17-and-a-half at this stage and sitting intently in the team’s factory at Brackley after completing a Formula Three test at Silverstone. He had not even competed in Formula Two, Formula One’s feeder series.