​Current Formula 1 champion leader Kimi Antonelli has made his debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, wrapping up a hectic week that already included the British Grand Prix, a Wimbledon visit, and tyre testing at Silverstone. On the Pirelli fan zone stage, the Italian driver admitted that he disregarded the advice to take it easy during his first run up the famed hill. “They told me to go slow, but of course I didn’t listen,” Antonelli joked. “I just tried to push, but it was good.”
He added: “It’s my first time, and I’ve got to head home tonight unfortunately, but I’m definitely coming back next year. I hope I’ll be able to enjoy the weekend more, soak up the experience more, because it’s just so cool. So many amazing race cars, and it’s the heart of motorsport. It’s really awesome to be here.”
For his run up the hill, Antonelli climbed aboard the Mercedes-AMG PureSpeed. This two-seater, the inaugural model for the marque’s exclusive Mythos series, draws inspiration from Formula 1. It rejects the traditional roof and windscreen in favor of a motorsport-inspired halo. Under the hood sits a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine delivering 800 Nm of torque. It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.6 seconds and reaches a top speed of 315 km/h. Only 250 units of the PureSpeed were produced, making it an exceptionally rare piece of engineering.
The PureSpeed also includes two aerodynamically optimized helmets tailored for the speedster. Each helmet features an intercom system to enable driver-passenger communication and music playback, and they are color-matched to the car’s finish.
Kimi Antonelli, Frederik Vesti (Mercedes’ third driver), Lando Norris, Leonardo Fornaroli (McLaren reserve driver), Bruno Senna, Isack Hadjar, Yuki Tsunoda, Patrick Friesacher, Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad, Ayumu Iwasa (Racing Bulls reserve driver), Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto, Paul Aron (Alpine reserve driver), Alex Dunne (Alpine F2 driver), Nina Gademan (Alpine F1 Academy driver), Damon Hill, Luke Browning (Williams reserve driver), James Vowles (Williams team principal), Jamie Chadwick (Williams F1 Academy adviser), Jak Crawford (Aston Martin reserve driver), and Jessica Hawkins (Aston Martin head of F1 Academy and driver ambassador) were among those taking in the event.
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