Andrea Kimi Antonelli amazes Timo Glock: the young Mercedes driver knows his fastest lap times – to the nearest thousandth
Sky expert Timo Glock put Formula 1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli to the test at the Mexican Grand Prix: Would Antonelli remember his three fastest race laps in the 2025 season?
That was the special task for Antonelli in a game with Glock. Glock said: “I remember a video with you from last year when it came to lap times.” In it, Antonelli can be seen being questioned by members of his former Formula 2 team Prema and his former teammate Oliver Bearman – and providing astonishingly precise answers.
So Glock asks Antonelli about his three fastest race laps in Formula 1 and asks, “Which Grands Prix were those?” Antonelli doesn’t have to think long: “Suzuka. I remember it clearly. 1:30.965 minutes.“ Bull’s eye! ”Next, I managed it at Spa, but that’s a bit more difficult,“ says Antonelli, adding: ”1:44.8 minutes.” And he’s right about that too: at the Belgian Grand Prix, he set the fastest lap of the race in 1:44.861 minutes.
“The last time is easy, it was just a few days ago – in Austin.” Antonelli says: “1:37.575 minutes?” and raises his eyebrows questioningly at the end. Glock corrects him: 1:37.577 minutes – Antonelli was off by two thousandths of a second.
Why Antonelli remembers the times
Glock is still impressed and asks: “How on earth can you remember that?” Antonelli explains: “It’s not that I make a big effort to remember these lap times. I just think to myself: lap times are very important. They always stay in the back of my mind.”
The year before, Bearman had set Antonelli an even more difficult task: “In 2021, we drove together in Formula 4.” Antonelli was asked to name his qualifying times from two sessions at Monza. Antonelli hesitated briefly, then said: “1:53.5 in Q1 and 1:52.9 in Q2.” He was off by a tenth of a second on the first lap time, but the second was exactly right. While his Prema teammates were still amazed, Antonelli said: “Come on, another task. I like this!“ So he was asked to name his qualifying time from Jeddah in 2024. He said, ”Easy. 1:42.4 minutes.“ Bearman laughed and said, ”Who, you?“ And Antonelli just said, ”And 1:42.2 for you!”