Manuel Fantini’s eyes are wide with excitement. There’s a broad grin on his face.
Fantini is recalling the first time he saw Kimi Antonelli behind the wheel of a car – well, a go-kart.
“When I first saw him, I said: ‘Mamma mia, chi diavolo è questo?’ In English that means, ‘Oh Mama, who the hell is this one?'”
“He was six years old. When you go to the track for the first time, it’s normal you go too fast and take turns the wrong way.
“But he was improving with each lap, like he’d known the track for years. At the end of that day, he was faster than the others and with a kart slower than them. Absurd! Incredible!”
Fantini is speaking to BBC Sport in a small cafe in Forli, Bologna. The autumnal sun creates a glare as the light bounces off the sign of the adjacent racetrack – Galliano Park.
Owned by the Fantini family for almost 30 years, it’s where Antonelli first climbed into a go-kart. It had to be adapted because he wasn’t tall enough to reach the throttle or brake pedals.
“His priority was being better – not being faster,” says Fantini. “That is the key in motorsport to be a champion.
“Everyone thinks you must be fast, but the approach of Kimi is the correct approach.
“He had something immediately in his veins that was not normal. If you’re only fast, you can hurt yourself or make mistakes.”
A former racer himself, Fantini says he is proud to have been a small part in Antonelli’s journey to becoming Formula 1’s youngest world champion.
He is sure the 20-year-old’s achievement will lift the whole country – but even more so the people of Bologna, where Antonelli was born and still visits regularly.
“I am very proud of him,” says Fantini. “And I’m very proud of his parents because the most difficult thing nowadays is when you have so much talent, to keep the kid safe and with humility.
“I see the same incredible person. He is so natural, so funny and good as a kid. But when he puts on the helmet… pay attention.”
