Driver Kucharczyk congratulated Antonelli on the Formula 1 title — Interia Sport

Polish racing driver Tymoteusz Kucharczyk publicly congratulated Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who, according to Interia Sport, became the youngest Formula 1 world champion in history. Kucharczyk posted an archival photo of the two together and wrote that his long-time acquaintance had achieved great success.

Acquaintance from karting

Kucharczyk and Antonelli were born in 2006 and met when they were eight years old. From 2017 to 2021, they competed against each other in Italian karting, and for two seasons represented the same team.

According to the outlet, 20-year-old Antonelli, a native of Bologna, secured the championship after the fate of the title had effectively been decided several races earlier. Mercedes won the drivers' championship for the first time since 2020. For Italy, this is the first Formula 1 championship won by one of its drivers since 1953.

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Motivation for Kucharczyk

In a comment to WP SportoweFakty, Kucharczyk called Antonelli's title deserved and noted that it strengthens his own ambitions. He recalled that in karting they started alongside each other, fought wheel to wheel, and that he was able to defeat the future champion.

A few days earlier, Kucharczyk also spoke about different development opportunities in junior motorsport series. According to him, Antonelli began testing Formula 4 cars at the age of 12, while the Polish driver himself first got behind the wheel of such a car at 15. Kucharczyk now competes in the Indy NXT series.