NASCAR driver Connor Zilisch once competed against Kimi Antonelli in karting—and now reveals why the Mercedes youngster was already “one of the best drivers” back then.
Mercedes youngster Andrea Kimi Antonelli was already being hailed as a “wunderkind” before his Formula 1 career. Although the 19-year-old Italian’s debut season did not go quite as Mercedes had hoped, his potential was already obvious in karting.
Current NASCAR driver Connor Zilisch shares this assessment. “I raced against him for three or four years,” the American recalls in the latest Gypsy Tales podcast. “I always knew he would make it to Formula 1. I just knew it.“
”He’s one of those guys who always perseveres and always drives at the front, no matter what the setup, the track, or the conditions are. And he was one of those drivers who, no matter what the situation was, whether it was practice or qualifying or whatever, was always at the front. He was just able to get the most out of his kart.”
Kimi Antonelli swaps engines with teammate
Zilisch recalls a humorous episode from their time karting together: “He came to America to compete in a race in Miami. One of my best friends was his teammate. He and his father thought it was all down to his engine.”
“The boy said, ‘Man, it must be his engine.’ So Kimi actually swapped engines with this boy.” Nevertheless, Antonelli was significantly faster than his teammate in the race. “That was just one example of how you often don’t realize how much difference it really makes until you do something like that,” says Zilisch.
“You just assume it’s the equipment, and then he says, ‘Okay, let’s swap.’ They swap, and Kimi drives faster. That’s something I always point out when I think of Kimi. He gets the most out of everything he gets.”
“He’s one of the best drivers, one of the top three drivers I’ve ever raced against—purely in terms of talent,” adds Zilisch. “So I always knew he was one of those guys who would make it, just like Arvid Lindblad.” The 18-year-old Brit with Swedish roots will be driving for Racing Bulls in 2026.
Zilisch: “The coolest days of my life”
“It’s crazy to see them racing in Formula 1 now. But karting is such a cool sport.” The current NASCAR driver, who caused a stir last year with an unfortunate crash in Victory Lane, traveled from the US to Europe especially for the event. “I spent a lot of time in Europe. Those were some of the coolest moments of my life,” Zilisch recalls. “I spent a few summers there when I wasn’t in school. I was there for three months at a time and raced against guys like Kimi Antonelli.“ ”I didn’t realize it at the time, but the days and months I spent in Europe without my parents, as a child, riding my bike to dinner on my own, were the coolest days of my life. And at the time, I didn’t even realize how cool it was.”
Looking back today, I can see how much I learned as a child and how I matured,“ emphasizes Zilisch, who reminisces: ”I definitely see that time as some of the coolest days of my life.”
