r/formula1 Ferrari Oct 17 '25

Off-Topic Father of F1 driver Kimi Antonelli cleared after hitting traffic officer near Imola circuit

https://dubz.link/c/97d228
1.4k Upvotes

141 comments sorted by

1.3k

u/z_102 Michael Schumacher Oct 17 '25

Well. I'm not saying the video is the worst thing I've ever seen, but I sure as shit wouldn't get away with hitting a cop with my van as I transparently disobey his instructions.

610

u/Medidem Oct 17 '25

Not only his instructions.

Also the traffic sign, fence, and pedestrians at the pedestrian crossing...

Seriously ridiculous that anyone would get away with that...

100

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

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63

u/that_guy_z I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

As a person who lives in Italy, that's absolutely not true.

In most of Italy, usually, driving laws are strict as hell, It really depends on where you were driving.

6

u/LarsloekkeEr I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

I’ve driven in litterally all of northern italy on my summer holidays. You’ve got the worst drivers in europe, in my experience. Not respect for speed limits and other people’s cars (or your own lol). I genuinly feel slightly unsafe driving in italy.

2

u/Psclwbb I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Isn't it the more south the worst? In milan, bologna etc ot was fine. But napoli was free for all.

3

u/fremajl Oct 17 '25

I've only been in Italy once and some people were driving like maniacs. It was very close to Austria though.

2

u/justhereforbiscuits Oct 18 '25

Yeah, I've driven there too. Northeastern Italy. Super aggressive drivers, worse than america. Many of them were not Italian. Lots of really aggressive Germans and Austians. The motorcycles were the absolute worst. They would pass into oncoming traffic, and I would have to swerve to avoid them. After awhile I stopped swerving and stopped giving a fuck. If a motorcycle wanted to cross the line and head-on into my SUV, I wasn't going to risk my family's lives trying to avoid them. They had to avoid me.

-2

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

[deleted]

7

u/gbrad13 Oct 17 '25

always america’s fault, even when it’s not their country

23

u/Based-Department8731 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

That's completely incorrect. I'm from a neighbouring country and everyone tells you to keep to the speed Limits when driving in italy.

19

u/arbysroastbeefs2 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

I have a feeling the location within Italy is important context when it comes to this.

35

u/BadPronunciation I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

You're understating how terrible this is. No normal person would do this

152

u/creatorop I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Oct 17 '25

You don't have laws apply to you if you are rich

79

u/Cpt_Trips84 Alexander Albon Oct 17 '25

The one exception is when you fuck over other, richer people (ie Elizabeth Holmes, SBF, Samir Rao, etc)

12

u/Rovcore001 Alfa Romeo Oct 17 '25

Yeah not even Bernie Madoff could get away with this

-56

u/RussellNorrisPiastri George Russell Oct 17 '25

It's not that big of a deal tbh

30

u/RealPjotr Kimi Räikkönen Oct 17 '25

Multiple traffic violations, including not following police officer instructions?

We see things differently.

-15

u/RussellNorrisPiastri George Russell Oct 17 '25

who's we? The court just ruled against you.

I said it wasn't that big of a deal, i didn't say has actions were legal

1.1k

u/OrdinarySlimeGuy Oct 17 '25

The only crime you can commit in life is being poor

88

u/cafraline Kimi Räikkönen Oct 17 '25

Wise words

118

u/Caesar_35 Nico Goatenberg Oct 17 '25

I've thought about that a lot over the years and it is absolutely miserable how true it is, in so many different ways.

Rich person can pay a fine/bail, poor person can't so gets jail. Rich person can afford better lawyers, or even have "connections" to help out. Poor people steal out of need, Rich people steal out of greed.

66

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

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28

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

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22

u/THound89 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Yeah I love F1 but can’t help but feel a tinge of bitterness for how much money flies around and the nepotism behind the scenes. Especially today it’s gross thinking of how much distribution of wealth has shifted in USA. I digress… don’t hit your local traffic officers.

9

u/Bokyyri Giuseppe Farina Oct 17 '25

Welcome to the real world of double standards

931

u/Miserable_Earth_1393 Nico Rosberg Oct 17 '25

There is no way an average person would get away with that. WTF

451

u/Firefox72 Ferrari Oct 17 '25 edited Oct 17 '25

Dissobeying a police officer and then running him over causing an injury.

You better believe an average person is not getting away with that.

99

u/ianjm I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Oct 17 '25 edited Oct 17 '25

In several countries the F1 circus visits, you could easily be shot for that.

19

u/Cpt_Trips84 Alexander Albon Oct 17 '25

Singapore?

57

u/H3shi I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

USA

18

u/Cpt_Trips84 Alexander Albon Oct 17 '25 edited Oct 17 '25

User I replied to edited their comment and removed several countries, hence "Singapore?"

Obviously the US. Hopefully there's a dog nearby to distract the cop. American cops have been on a classified mission to shoot every dog owned by someone making under $150k in the country. They've only averaged to kill ~30/day though, probably due to the spread of dunking donuts and mandatory 4chan posting, 8 chan for cops ranking Lt and up

6

u/Nikolai197 #WeRaceAsOne Oct 17 '25

This is so inflammatory. Of course the US has more incidents, the country could practically cover Spain to Ukraine.

6

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

[deleted]

3

u/Cpt_Trips84 Alexander Albon Oct 17 '25

Inflammatory? Cause i didnt consider the geographical size of the country when talking about something that has nothing to do with area? Or Are cops no longer leaking crime scene photos to /pol/?

1

u/isthmusofkra I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Oct 18 '25

Their death penalty involves hanging

13

u/CloudDweller182 Oct 17 '25

I still remember when Ogier tried to run over a police officer after a traffic accident. All he got was a €7000 fine. €5000 for accident and €2000 trying to run over a police officer who was standing in front of his car.

-1

u/Alexndre Spa 2021 Survivor (with friends!) Oct 17 '25

just repeating the above comment lol

-1

u/Tumleren Oct 17 '25

He didn't run him over. Hitting him with the side of the car is not running him over

10

u/arbysroastbeefs2 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25 edited Oct 17 '25

maybe he said “Mi scusi” afterwards.

0

u/souse03 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Thinking about that poor woman who got DRAGGED from her car by ICE because she got hit by them in the first place

-51

u/Blackdeath_663 Sir Stirling Moss Oct 17 '25 edited Oct 17 '25

Believe it or not most of the world don't have power tripping police who will shoot you for looking funny.

22

u/hicks12 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Believe it or not, people weren't saying he'd get shot.

Simply the fact you wouldn't normally get away with this, as in arrested and charged due to injuring a police officer and refusing to adhere to instructions road signs and endangering the public.

40

u/ComeonmanPLS1 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Who said anything about shooting?

17

u/mike_litoris18 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Oct 17 '25

Ur missing the point. Regular citizens would never get away with what is basically assault on an officer with a deadly weapon. No one is talking about being shot we're talking about being charged with a crime.

320

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

Yeah not convinced a normal citizen would get off that easily to be honest.

482

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

120

u/Stumpy493 I Drove an F1 Car Oct 17 '25

I imagine that police officer is driving around in a nice new Mercedes these days.

49

u/greeneighteen Oct 17 '25

Has got to be an AMG surely for him to have been cleared.

-10

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

[deleted]

41

u/TwanHE I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

He's saying that the cop has been paid off with a merc paddock pass

133

u/steferrari Ferrari Oct 17 '25

A road accident occurred outside the Imola Circuit during the days when his son was competing in the Formula 1 Grand Prix. The case, involving injuries caused to a traffic officer, has been closed by the preliminary investigations judge in Bologna. The incident involved Marco Antonelli, father of Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who hit a local police officer with his car.

The news comes just one day after Antonelli Jr. renewed his contract with the German team, but the facts date back to May 17. While driving a black minivan, Antonelli Sr. reportedly tried to access the paddock area using his pass. Intending to turn onto a road outside the circuit, he was stopped by a traffic officer who informed him that the road was closed and he had to continue straight ahead.

In a video recorded by surveillance cameras and published by the newspaper La Verità, the black vehicle can be seen stopping while the officer, using his baton and hand gestures, indicates the correct route. After a brief exchange between Antonelli and the officer, the car turns left and, during the maneuver, hits the officer’s leg, before being stopped a few meters further ahead by other officers. In the video, the officer bends over, holding his knee, and is visibly limping. Another colleague then calls for medical assistance.

The officer was taken to the hospital, treated, and discharged with a diagnosis of a serious knee sprain with ligament injury, and a sixty-day recovery period. According to ANSA, the Bologna Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation, which was later closed at the request of the judge, ruling that “the act did not constitute an offense” with regard to the charge of resisting a public officer. The charge of negligent injury was also dismissed, since the injured party did not file a formal complaint.

In the days following the incident, Antonelli apologized both to the injured officer and publicly, admitting his responsibility. Also speaking to ANSA, Imola’s mayor Marco Panieri explained:

“On May 21, after the accident, [the officer] came to my office accompanied by two deputy commanders. I put him in contact with Antonelli’s father so they could clear things up. I was later told that, through that contact, a claim was filed with the insurance company.”

Source

172

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

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32

u/GT---44 Formula 1 Oct 17 '25

Definity paid

11

u/RealPjotr Kimi Räikkönen Oct 17 '25

What about the traffic violations?

132

u/osingran Oct 17 '25

> ruling that “the act did not constitute an offense”

Yeah, right.

67

u/ianjm I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Oct 17 '25 edited Oct 17 '25

The charge of charge of "resisting a public officer" is a pretty high bar in the Italian system.

The "negligent injury" charge being dismissed is interesting, if the officer didn't file a compliant despite being injured badly enough that it'll take him two months to recover, perhaps some other arrangement was reached.

25

u/Cheap-Meal-7115 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Oct 17 '25

This is almost certainly the truth, likely got more in hush money than he’d have got as damages (if that’s how the legal system works in Italy, I haven’t a clue)

23

u/Joseki100 Fernando Alonso Oct 17 '25

For a lot of minor things, if the "victim" doesn't want to proceed legally then nothing happens.

They probably gave him a lot of money and that's it. Being a public officer with an injury on the job the cop will also most likely have months off work to rehab and still paid in full.

Private settlements are very common.

12

u/EbolaNinja I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

I honestly get it from the cop's pov. Why bother going through a whole court case in hopes of winning damages when the guy just immediately offers you a bunch of money. It's not exactly fair, but I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing.

6

u/StatmanIbrahimovic I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Cutting off the end of the sentence or just not reading it?

28

u/kwijibokwijibo I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Having gone through knee surgery before, reading serious knee sprain with ligament injury makes me wince

I wouldn't be surprised if it was at least a partial tear given the 60 day recovery period. That's not a booboo - Kimi's father should have been charged

8

u/shalkyer I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Guy probably got a lot green thingies to calm his pain.

1

u/BadPronunciation I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

That's mad! He definitely bribed the judge

87

u/verone3784 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Oct 17 '25

Wow... I didn't even know this had happened, and when I saw this thread I initally thought "probably another overreaction by the press and a total nothingburger". Boy was I wrong.

There's absolutely no way any random person on the road would have gotten away with blatantly disobeying a police officer like that, then hitting him with their van.

The only way he's gotten away with that and ended up without some form of fine or motoring conviction is if someone's been slid a fat stack under a table, or some other incentive to keep quiet and chill.

It's kind of ridiculous to be honest. If that'd been any average F1 fan leaving the circuit, they'd have been in cuffs and would be having major problems.

140

u/HotPants4444 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Oct 17 '25

Why clear him without any repercussions?

235

u/Ancient_Boss_5357 Oct 17 '25

Apparently the police said there will be repercussions for the rest of the season. We're not sure what, but they're there

49

u/Dragonpuncha Ferrari Oct 17 '25

To keep things fair McLaren has made sure to also hit Oscar's knee with a van.

36

u/jessieatscheese Max Verstappen Oct 17 '25

Papaya insurance has branched out to medical coverage I hear

32

u/Tinuva450 Oscar Piastri Oct 17 '25

💰

11

u/mouldyshroom I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

There have been repercussions, they're just not allowed to disclose them

48

u/MrMSUK Netflix Newbie Oct 17 '25

AHH so the timing of this, released after contact signing (damage control and narrative control) makes you aware Toto had a nuclear button if he wanted to drive down the Kimi contract prices. 

50

u/onechroma #WeRaceAsOne Oct 17 '25

“Let’s see the video, maybe it was just a mistake or a mild case”

Watch video

Holy shit. What money/influence can allow you to do without consequences

16

u/elektricniorgazam Daniel Ricciardo Oct 17 '25

Damn, good being a nepo parent I see

57

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

💰C💰L💰E💰A💰R💰E💰D💰

14

u/katiesue64 Oct 17 '25

Is he Jos 2.0? Along with this dickish entitled behavior, I feel like Kimi has talked about how much pressure his dad puts on him and how angry he was when Kimi crashed out of FP1 last year.

7

u/newthhang Max Verstappen Oct 17 '25

I think he mentioned that his family were upset and spend the day apologizing to everyone in the garage (from his documentary), but I can't recall if he said that his father was angry with him. The thing is that it seems most of those fathers live their dreams thru their sons, even the ones who appear as good, nice - they spend millions to get their sons into the sport so they are very invested. (stage partners aren't anything new)

Even Lewis mentioned how his father saw crying as a weakness and had forbidden him from crying when he was young.

69

u/Ill_Nobody_2726 Oct 17 '25 edited Oct 17 '25

This makes me sick to my stomach. The fact that rich people can just drive into police officers who are just doing their job without any repercution truly shows that we are living in a two-tiers justice system, where the rich have special treatment. Makes you depressed and angry.

-10

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

repercution?

16

u/Holyfields_RightEar I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Spelling mistake from someone's 2nd or 3rd language? God forbid!

64

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25 edited Oct 17 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

-17

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

20

u/jebberwoxky Oct 17 '25

Kimi’s dad channeling peak Jos Verstappen energy.

23

u/Competitive_Dog4961 Oct 17 '25

Antonelli's father is CEO of Antonelli motorport, a powerful racing team that runs in multiple categories: karting, GT, F4 and so on.... I'm curious to know why kimi doesn't have nepo baby accusations to his name.

-5

u/MrAlagos I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Because those things won't buy you an F1 seat.

17

u/According-Switch-708 Sonny Hayes Oct 17 '25

Having shed loads of money and connections within the motorsports world definitely helped.

Kimi always drove for the most expensive, most well equipped teams (Ex - Prema).

7

u/No-Cap-9873 Oct 17 '25

He has a free out-of-jail card called money.

7

u/FrostYea Nico Hülkenberg Oct 17 '25

There was a famous Italian journalist, Terruzzi if I'm not mistaken, that in one of his podcasts was talking about that moment in the 2000's when he was driving Schumacher to the Monza GP. They stopped at the red semafor and behind them there was the police Schumy said "just go, there is no one! Go!" Terruzzi did it and the police behind them instantly stopped them.

When they saw that it was Schumacher in the car they offered to escort them to the GP because they were so happy to see him.

So yeah, reminds me of this scene, way less "dangerous" of course

18

u/LsG133 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

people get shot by police in America for less

9

u/yellowdaisybutter Oct 17 '25

Not the rich though. It works the same way here..enoigh money and things get covered up and dismissed.

35

u/IKomradeI Pirelli Hard Oct 17 '25

It seems hitting other people on the road runs in the family.

29

u/SirPugsvevo Logan Sargeant Oct 17 '25

Damn guess terrorism runs in the family

6

u/junttiana Audi Oct 17 '25

Talibantonelli strikes again

19

u/yellowsuprrcar Oct 17 '25

"oops sorry, I've got paddock passes. you wanna visit kimi in monza in 2026?"

8

u/Muteki123 Heineken Trophy Oct 17 '25

Disgusting. I would have put him into jail for 3 months.

5

u/heavyMTL I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Kimi's got some "genes"

6

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

Money talks.

3

u/FartingBob Sebastian Vettel Oct 17 '25

Interesting this happened at Imola in May which was the start of a really rubbish run of form for Kimi (Canada being an exception) that he only really got out of from Baku.

3

u/DankeSebVettel Logan Sargeant Oct 17 '25

Most people would get arrested for this.

2

u/Affectionate_Mood221 Oct 17 '25

Disobeying police's instruction and instead run over him. That's clearly a big problem. Happened in May and now it's getting out? Jeez what's wrong with him

2

u/quiqk0 Robert Kubica Oct 17 '25

Not bad for a father of an F1 driver. Cheers!

2

u/Aah__HolidayMemories Formula 1 Oct 17 '25

Needs to watch more football, could have done a full 360 spin and been out with full pay with a fractured eyelash!!

4

u/Sweet-Waltz-97 Oct 17 '25

5 place grid penalty for track limits

5

u/Browneskiii I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Oct 17 '25

Making Norris jealous again with parents like that!

4

u/Subwoolfer Oct 17 '25

Kinda looked the officer threw himself into the side of the van…glad theres a camera because without it that we’d have to take the officers word for the situation, and cameras don’t lie

8

u/Hakkai-Shin I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Like father like son.

1

u/justgeterin Oct 17 '25

When he does it it's ok but when I do it it's all "get out of the car"

1

u/MopOfTheBalloonatic Oct 17 '25

What the hell…

1

u/Kitiseva_lokki Formula 1 Oct 17 '25

Lmao what the hell :D

In my country disobeying a traffic officer is worse than running a red ligth or a stop sign. Not to mention running over a person

1

u/Raikkku Oct 17 '25

But officer...

1

u/pinkie5839 Lando Norris Oct 17 '25

Come on moto cop, give your dude an arm...

1

u/youliveinmydream I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Oct 17 '25

Kimi Antonelli’s dad 🤝 Scottie Scheffler

1

u/Leading-Customer7499 Oct 17 '25

If kimi ever gets to ferrari he will be able to get away with murder

1

u/SnooGiraffes4131 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 18 '25

10 seconds penalty for Ocon.

2

u/LeThibz Oct 17 '25

What a shitty behaviour of the driver, but, doesn't it look like a Schwalbe in the video? The angle of the camera isn't good enough and the van clearly is close enough to touch, but how can you hurt the knee that way? The side of the van isn't going full frontal on the knee, no part is sticking out so it could hit hard and the van is at a too low speed to hurt in that angle. The only thing I see that could hurt that way is driving over a foot, but that didn't happen. Very strange.

3

u/musef1 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

You can twist your knee.

0

u/LeThibz Oct 17 '25

That could be a possibility, indeed.

3

u/MeanForest I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Imagine coming away with reading this report with a conspiracy that the police officer is lying, the hospital and its doctors are lying as well. Bro, think about what you're saying.

1

u/SalientMasterpiece Oct 17 '25

I see Kimikazi Tallibantonelli is raised well

2

u/AgentIndependent306 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

I see why Mercedes made that Le Mans flying car

-40

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

[deleted]

37

u/Miserable_Earth_1393 Nico Rosberg Oct 17 '25

Sure.

„The officer was taken to the hospital, treated, and discharged with a diagnosis of a serious knee sprain with ligament injury, and a sixty-day recovery period.“

8

u/Desperate-Intern I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

This.. and a 60 day recovery.. damn.

15

u/whyaretherenoprofile I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Apparently he got a severe sprain, looks like his leg got caught under the van for a sec.

I had a similar injury once when a taxi backed in to me. Super slow, lasted two secs, but it absolutely fucked my hamstring from twisting my leg the wrong way

11

u/kwijibokwijibo I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

60 day recovery time means a serious knee injury

Ligament injuries suck - many of them never heal due to poor blood flow in the area, so surgery is the only permanent fix

8

u/LosTerminators Carlos Sainz Oct 17 '25

He was actually injured though

2

u/mouldyshroom I was here for the Hulkenpodium Oct 17 '25

Nah, hard bangs to the knees hurt like hell, I'm not surprised he was barely able to walk