Sports
F1 teenager Kimi Antonelli just got his driver’s license — right on time to replace Lewis Hamilton
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was more nervous than he had been for some time. A racing driver’s career can often hinge on sliding doors moments such as these.
The 18-year-old wasn’t trying to secure a Formula One drive. He completed that mission months ago when he signed with Mercedes to replace Lewis Hamilton.
He was about to sit his driving test.
Thirty minutes later, the Italian teenager beamed beneath his mop of curly hair and raised a thumb to the camera. He’d passed — first time, of course. There would be no need to squeeze in another test between the hectic travel demands of the F1 calendar. And the ‘honor’ of being an active F1 driver without a road license — once true of Max Verstappen, who debuted at age 17 — will not apply to Antonelli.
It was an early dose of pressure handled well by the driver who will debut for Mercedes at the Australian Grand Prix on March 16, stepping into the cockpit vacated by Hamilton, a seven-time world champion 21 years Antonelli’s senior.
Antonelli knows he cannot expect to emulate Hamilton’s 12-year run at Mercedes, which yielded six world championships and 84 race wins to become the most successful driver-team partnership in F1 history. But he is taking in all the support he can ahead of his debut season.
“I’m the next Mercedes driver and I’m taking the seat of someone who made history in the sport, so it’s a big privilege,” Antonelli told The Athletic in an interview. “It’s a big responsibility, but I’ve got the right people around me.”
Cars have always been a central part of Antonelli’s life.
His father, Marco, watched how young Kimi played with toy cars and decided to take him go-karting at five.
Kimi instantly fell in love with the sensation of speed. (Antonelli goes by his middle name, which has no connection to the 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen.) Yet Marco, who still races in sportscars with his own GT team, Antonelli Motorsport, which competes across Europe, was initially wary of pursuing it too seriously. He didn’t want Kimi to get hurt in what can be a ruthless world.
“Sometimes motorsport can be cruel,” Antonelli said. “He was afraid that I would have been too hurt from disappointment, so he wanted to avoid that. But seeing that I really loved driving and really loved the sport, he decided to give it a go. He could see, without me really telling him, that I had the passion for motorsport.”
That love was furthered by father-and-son Sundays spent watching F1 races together. While Antonelli would have grown up watching Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, his racing heroes are from much further back. His dad showed him the famous race between Gilles Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux at Dijon in 1979, regarded by many as the greatest on-track battle of all time, which gave him an appreciation of the sport’s history from a young age.
“It was just amazing,” Antonelli said. “You see how different it was, compared to now, the safety, the cars. You also appreciate the way the drivers were still battling on track despite knowing that the cars were not as safe as today. They were still going for it and you really appreciate seeing those battles.”
Villeneuve and Ayrton Senna emerged as Antonelli’s favorite drivers, in part thanks to their tenacious style on the track. “Ayrton is my hero, but Villeneuve, now I understand why my dad was such a big fan of him,” Antonelli said. “He was a lion on the track.”
After first using 12 as his racing number in Formula Four, Antonelli chose it for his F1 debut season as a nod to Senna, who raced with 12 through the first four years of his career, including his first championship season in 1988. By coincidence, Villeneuve also raced with 12 in 1978 and 1979.
While the history lessons Antonelli received as a child furthered his passion off the track, on the track, he quickly excelled, rising up the go-karting ladder. His progress put him on the radar of top talent scouts, among whom was Gwen Lagrue, Mercedes’ junior guru. This led to Antonelli meeting Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff at age 11 before signing to its young driver program at 13.
It was Antonelli’s character as well as his ability that impressed Wolff. By the time he stepped up to single-seaters and continued winning everything he laid his hands upon, including both the Italian and German F4 titles in his first year before the Formula Regional title in 2023, it was clear the teenager had the makings of something special. In the long term, a place in the future Mercedes F1 lineup alongside George Russell has always been in the mind of the team’s management. It was just a matter of timing.
When Hamilton, who many expected would end his career at Mercedes, revealed last January that he would be leaving for Ferrari in 2025, it took Wolff five minutes to decide Antonelli, then just 17, would be the man to replace him.
“We have a great relationship, not only professionally, but also outside of the track,” Antonelli said of Wolff. “He’s a great guy, really supportive during great moments but also during difficult moments. I’m super happy to be with him. He’s been giving me a lot of help.”
Wolff has even entrusted Antonelli with teaching his six-year-old son, Jack, how to go-kart. “He’s not bad, he’s been improving quite a lot,” Antonelli said. “Every test, he was getting better and better. It was nice to see.”
Antonelli leaves his car after crashing during his first practice session, ahead of the Italian Grand Prix in 2024 (Gabriel Bouys / AFP via Getty Images)
The one thing both Wolff and Mercedes have been eager to avoid is putting too much pressure or expectation on Antonelli. A crash just minutes into his first F1 practice outing at Monza, one day before he was announced in the 2025 seat, was brushed off as part of the learning curve. Mercedes doesn’t expect an 18-year-old to replicate what Hamilton achieved.
Debuting for such a high-profile team at such a young age is rare in F1. Typically, young drivers will get their first opportunity further down the grid to learn the ropes and make a name for themselves before proving they are ready for a top seat. Russell spent three years at Williams before getting the Mercedes drive. Red Bull initially placed Verstappen at its sister team, Toro Rosso, before promoting him during his second season.
The one great, successful exception to the rule in recent F1 history is the man Antonelli will replace: Hamilton. He was given a McLaren seat for his debut season in 2007 and came within one point of winning the championship as a rookie. It’s an impossibly high bar, one there is no expectation for Antonelli to meet.
Antonelli’s youth meant his step up to F1 required an extra degree of preparation. Alongside his Formula Two racing commitments last year, he conducted an extensive amount (just under 20 days) of private testing in old cars, with his pace impressing the engineering team. Antonelli was also able to embed himself with the Mercedes engineering crew at races through the second half of the season, getting to know the voices and faces he will lean upon through 2025.
Antonelli feels a responsibility not only toward Mercedes but also toward his native Italy. While the nation has a rich, unparalleled history in motorsport, with Ferrari becoming a de facto national team, it has not produced a world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953 nor a grand prix winner since Giancarlo Fisichella’s last success in 2006 with Renault.
“There’s a lot more hype around, of course, heading into next season,” Antonelli said. “Definitely, you feel a bit of responsibility because you know you’ve got Italy behind you. Everyone expects me to be successful, especially because I’ll be racing a Mercedes.
“But it’s also really exciting. I cannot wait for next year to get started and also I cannot wait for my home race at Imola. I would love to see so many Italians cheering.” The swathes of red for Ferrari that typically cover the grandstands at Imola may well be interspersed with Mercedes’ silver and black this year.
At Imola, Monza and beyond, the adjustment to fame will be hard for Antonelli to truly prepare for until it happens. He’s already getting recognized a lot more. Fans stopped him every few steps as he walked through Milan Malpensa airport last year off his flight from Heathrow; Antonelli graciously paused for selfies each time. He admitted it felt “a bit strange” to begin with, but he knows it’s part of the job. “When you get used to it, it’s normal.”
Antonelli, 18, and Bearman, 19, will join the F1 grid this year. (Joe Portlock / Getty Images)
Normal in F1, yes, but Antonelli is still a teenager — part of F1’s new wave of talent that has transformed the look and dramatically reduced the average age of the grid for 2025. Away from racing, he enjoys playing padel (the hobby of choice for much of the grid) and has already enjoyed some spirited matches with his new teammate, Russell. But he also likes to keep sharp by go-karting or even doing sim racing with his friends.
An endearing element of Antonelli’s rise last year was his friendship with his F2 teammate Ollie Bearman, who will also graduate to F1 this year with Haas. Both racing for Prema, they made several fun social media videos together and struck up a good relationship away from the track. It’s something Antonelli hopes can be of help to them both as they make the leap to F1.
“He’s a great guy, he’s quick,” Antonelli said of Bearman. “I’ve learned a lot from him. I’m happy to be sharing the grid with him next year. Because we’re going to be new next year, especially at the start, just the fact we’ve known each other and we’ve been racing together, it will help.”
When it comes to handling the leap up to F1, Antonelli will look to all the support he can get. While he will be one of six full-season rookies on the F1 grid this year, he and Red Bull’s Liam Lawson, who already has 11 races to his name, are likely to draw the most attention for the fact they’re with front-running teams that won races last year.
It makes the preparations for Antonelli all the more important. Mercedes will start 2025 trying to find the consistency it lacked for so much of last year. Russell will morph into the role of team leader following Hamilton’s departure, but for Antonelli, it’s all about getting the basics right and not letting the occasion over-awe him. “It’s going to be a big season ahead,” Antonelli said.
Now, with his driver’s license, F1’s youngest driver is ready for anything.
(Top photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Sports
Law firm fighting for women’s sports in SCOTUS battle comments on ruling possibly impacting SJSU trans lawsuit
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A law firm leading the charge in the ongoing Supreme Court case over trans athletes in women’s sports has responded after a federal judge suggested the case’s ruling could impact a separate case involving a similar issue.
Colorado District Judge Kato Crews deferred ruling in motions to dismiss former San Jose State volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser’s lawsuit against the California State University (CSU) system until after a ruling in the B.P.J. v. West Virginia Supreme Court case, which is expected to come in June.
Slusser filed the lawsuit against representatives of her school and the Mountain West Conference in fall 2024 after she allegedly was made to share bedrooms and changing spaces with trans teammate Blaire Fleming for a whole season without being informed that Fleming is a biological male.
Meanwhile, the B.P.J. case went to the Supreme Court after a trans teen sued West Virginia to block the state’s law that prevents males from competing in girls’ high school sports.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is the primary law firm defending West Virginia in that case at the Supreme Court, and has now responded to news that Slusser’s lawsuit could be affected by the SCOTUS ruling.
“We hope the ruling from the Supreme Court will affirm that Title IX was designed to guarantee equal opportunity for women, not to let male athletes displace women and girl in competition. It is crucial that sports be separated by sex for not only the equal opportunity of women but for safety and privacy. Title IX should protect women’s right to compete in their own sports. Allowing men to compete in the female category reverses 50 years of advancement for women,” ADF Vice President of Litigation Strategies Jonathan Scruggs said.
Slusser’s attorney, Bill Bock of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, expects a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the legal defense representing West Virginia, thus helping his case.
(Left) Brooke Slusser (10) of the San Jose State Spartans serves the ball during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Oct. 19, 2024. (Right) Blaire Fleming #3 of the San Jose State Spartans looks on during the third set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. ( Andrew Wevers/Getty Images; Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
“We’re looking forward to the case going forward,” Bock told Fox News Digital.
“I believe that the court is going to find that Title IX operates on the basis of biological sex, without regard to an assumed or professed gender, and so just like the congress and the members of congress that passed Title IX in 1972, allowed this specifically provided for in the regulations that there had to be separate men’s and women’s teams based on biological sex, I think the court is going to see that is the original meaning of the statute and apply it in that way, and I think it’s going to be a big win in women’s sports.”
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared prepared to rule in favor of West Virginia after oral arguments on Jan. 13.
Slusser spoke on the steps of the Supreme Court on Jan. 13 while oral arguments took place inside, sharing her experience with a divided crowd of opposing protesters.
With Fleming on its roster, SJSU reached the 2024 conference final by virtue of a forfeit by Boise State in the semifinal round. SJSU lost in the final to Colorado State.
Slusser went on to develop an eating disorder due to the anxiety and trauma from the scandal and dropped out of her classes the following semester. The eating disorder became so severe, that Slusser said she lost her menstrual cycle for nine months. Her decision to drop her classes resulted in the loss of her scholarship, and her parents said they had to foot the bill out of pocket for an unfinished final semester of college.
President Donald Trump’s Department of Education determined in January that SJSU violated Title IX in its handling of the situation involving Fleming, and has given the university an ultimatum to agree to a series of resolutions or face a referral to the Department of Justice.
Among the department’s findings, it determined that a female athlete discovered that the trans student allegedly conspired to have a member of an opposing team spike her in the face during a match. ED claims that “SJSU did not investigate the conspiracy, but later subjected the female athlete to a Title IX complaint for ‘misgendering’ the male athlete in online videos and interviews.”
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SJSU trans player Blaire Fleming and teammate Brooke Slusser went to a magic show and had Thanksgiving together in Las Vegas despite an ongoing lawsuit over Fleming being transgender. (Thien-An Truong/San Jose State Athletics)
SJSU Athletic Director Jeff Konya told Fox News Digital in a July interview that he was satisfied with how the university handled the situation involving Fleming.
“I think everybody acted in the best possible way they could, given the circumstances,” Konya said.
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Sports
Myles Garrett cited for speeding a ninth time, an elite pass rusher seemingly always in a rush
Myles Garrett is in a hurry to become the greatest pass rusher in NFL history. The Cleveland Browns All-Pro defensive end set the single-season sack record in 2025 and has cracked the top 20 career leaders after only nine seasons.
“I’m going to take that down, and I prefer I take it down in the next five years,” Garrett told Casino Guru News last month.
Off the field, however, his urgency to get from point A to B is a problem. He’s accumulating speeding tickets at an alarming rate.
On Feb. 21, Garrett was handed his ninth speeding ticket since his NFL career began in 2017. He was cited for driving 94 mph in a 70-mph zone on Interstate 71 between Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.
The citation from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office says Garrett was driving his green 2024 Porsche at 1:35 a.m., returning home after attending a Miami of Ohio basketball game in Oxford.
Body cam footage shows the officer telling Garrett that she kept the charge under 100 mph so that a court appearance wouldn’t be mandatory. Garrett reportedly still holds a Texas driver’s license — he attended Texas A&M — and told the officer that he did not have an Ohio license.
Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett wears a jacket displaying his girlfriend Chloe Kim before the women’s snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy.
(Lindsey Wasson / AP)
The officer wrote that the famously affable Garrett was “kind and cooperative,” and that drugs and alcohol were not a factor.
Garrett’s need for speed flies in the face of his persona. He has written poetry since high school, peppers social media with inspirational sayings and donates time and money to several charities.
His girlfriend is two-time gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim, for whom he wrote a poem he shared on social media: “You enrapture fools to kings, and exist without a peer, put on this Earth for many things, but our love is why you’re here.”
Verse hasn’t slowed his roll. On Aug. 9 he was cited for ticket No. 8, clocked at 100 mph in a 60-mph zone in a Cleveland suburb a day after the Browns returned home from a preseason game at Carolina.
Garrett’s seventh ticket followed a frightening crash in 2022. He flipped his gray 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S off State Road in Sharon Township and he and a female passenger were injured. He was cited for failing to control his vehicle due to unsafe speeds on what had been a slick roadway.
A witness told a responding police officer that Garrett’s vehicle went airborne, took out a fire hydrant and rolled three times. Garrett sustained shoulder and biceps sprains and was sidelined for the Browns’ game that week against the Atlanta Falcons. His companion was not seriously injured.
Cleveland television station WKYC reported that in September 2021 Garrett was stopped twice in a 24-hour period — for driving 120 and 105 mph. The infractions occurred on Interstate 71 in Medina County, where the speed limit is 70 mph, and he paid fines of $267 and $287.
A year earlier, Garrett was cited for driving 100 mph in a 65-mph zone of Interstate 77 — again while driving a Porsche — and paid a $308 fine. He accumulated his first batch of speeding tickets in 2017 and 2018, and the police reports recite similar circumstances: Garrett driving well over the speed limit, cited without incident, paid a nominal fine.
The piddly fines certainly aren’t a deterrent. Garrett, 30, and the Browns agreed to a four-year contract extension in March 2025 that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at the time. The deal pays the seven-time All-Pro more than $40 million a season and includes more than $123 million in guaranteed money.
He set the NFL single-season sack record with 23.0 last season, surpassing the 22.5 accumulated by T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan. Garrett has 125.5 career sacks, averaging 14 a season, a pace that would enable him to break Bruce Smith’s career record of 200 in five years.
“That is definitely on my mind to go out there and get,” Garrett said. “That’s a goal I’ve had for years now since college.”
Garrett has declined to discuss his driving habits.
“I’d honestly prefer to talk about football and this team than anything I’m doing off the field other than the back-to-school event that I did the other day,” he told reporters after ticket No. 8 in August, referring to a charity appearance.
“I try to keep my personal life personal. And I’d rather focus on this team when I can.”
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Former ESPN broadcaster Keith Olbermann once again incited backlash on social media Wednesday after he called late legendary college football coach Lou Holtz a “legendary scumbag” in an X post on the day Holtz was announced dead.
“Legendary scumbag, yes,” Olbermann wrote in response to a clip of Holtz criticizing former President Joe Biden in 2020 for supporting abortion rights.
Olbermann received scathing criticism in response to his post on X.
“You’re a scumbag that needs mental help,” one X user wrote to Olbermann.
One user echoed that sentiment, writing to Olbermann, “You’re the real scumbag here. Lou Holtz had more class, integrity, and genuine decency in his pinky finger than you’ll ever show in your lifetime.”
Another user wrote, “You’re a grumpy, lonely, Godless man. All the things Lou Holtz was not.”
Keith Olbermann speaks onstage during the Olbermann panel at the ESPN portion of the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel July 24, 2013, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Olbermann has made it a pattern of sharing politically charged far-left statements that are often combative and ridiculed on social media, typically resulting in immense backlash.
After the U.S. men’s hockey team’s gold medal win, Olbermann heavily criticized the team for accepting an invitation from President Trump to the State of the Union address. Olbermann wrote on X that any members of the men’s team who attended the event were “declaring their indelible stupidity and misogyny,” while praising the women’s team for declining the invitation.
In January, Olbermann attacked former University of Kentucky women’s swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler for celebrating a women’s rights rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments for two cases focused on the legality of biological male trans athletes in women’s sports.
Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz listens before being presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House in Washington, D.C., Dec, 3, 2020. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“It’s still about you trying to find an excuse for a lifetime wasted trying to succeed in sports without talent,” Olbermann wrote in response to Wheeler’s post.
In 2025, Olbermann faced significant backlash after posting (and later deleting) a message on X aimed at CNN contributor Scott Jennings, that said, “You’re next motherf—–,” shortly after the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
Holtz was a stern supporter of President Donald Trump, even saying in February 2024 that Trump needed to “coach America back to greatness!”
Near the end of Trump’s first term, shortly after former President Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 election, Trump awarded Holtz with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States.
After Holtz’s death was announced Wednesday, several top GOP figures paid tribute to the coach on social media.
Those GOP lawmakers included senators Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.; Todd Young, R-Ind.; Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; representatives Greg Murphy, R-N.C.; David Rouzer, R-N.C.; Erin Houchin, R-Ind.; and Steve Womack, R-Ark.; and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; Indiana Gov. Mike Braun; U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon; and Rudy Giuliani.
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Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame football coach, addresses the America First Policy Institute’s America First Agenda Summit at the Marriott Marquis July 26, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
At the time of publication, prominent Democrat leaders have appeared silent on Holtz’s passing, including prominent Democrats with a football background.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who worked as an assistant high school football coach; Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who was a recruiting target for Holtz in 1986 as a college prospect; Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, who played in the NFL; and Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Ill., who played football for the University of Illinois, have not posted acknowledging Holtz’s death.
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