Can Kimi Antonelli keep his cool in Monaco?

0:02This is a Global Player original podcast.

0:05Kimi Antonelli:Which team will dominate in Monaco? I sort of feel this is a George weekend. You all know I am Kimi Antonelli's number one fan. This track is not Kimi Antonelli's. It's the one that the drivers want to win the most. It's a boring race. It's the one that requires the greatest commitment, the greatest skill, the greatest finesse, and is the most historic.

0:34Up to Speed.

0:39It's Will.

0:40Kimi Antonelli:It's Jolie. Welcome to Up to Speed. Double trouble here today, this morning. Double trouble indeed. How are you, my friend? I am good. How are you doing? I'm doing good. You look radiant. I look half asleep because I am half asleep. Big question, Jolie, then. Are you excited for Monaco? because it is obviously one of, if not the biggest, week of the year for Formula One. Do you want to know the thing I'm most excited about? Yes, I do. A normal race time. A European race. None of this nonsense of the middle of the night, waking up or going to bed really late. I am excited to be in Europe racing.

1:18It's going to be early for me for the next few. But listen, I love Monaco. um it's there is you know last week i was talking about how big of an event the indy 500 was and is and the fact that it is it's such an event um and monaco is one of those few grand prix that has the glitz the glamour the history that that real kind of enormity where as an event it stands on its own um it's such a special and i say event rather than race it's such a special

1:54Kimi Antonelli:event so it's it's it's always an exciting week i mean not only is monaco such a glamorous place but they really do add to that and make it i mean i must have had 15 different emails in my inbox about different events taking place in the lead up every brand that's in formula one is trying to activate brands that aren't even in formula one are trying to activate around it you've got the massive yachts you've got the sparkly dresses and you have to remember as well this is now obviously of course so many of the drivers homes you know Charles is obviously from Monaco but Oscar lives there Lando lives there Liam Lawson lives there I mean I could probably list over 50 % of the of the grid live in Monaco would we say I think if they're smart with their money they probably live in Monaco yeah yeah so um it's like DC lives in Monaco DC does live in Monaco but it's you know It's so funny because it's basically a fishing village in the south of France that really rates itself.

2:59And there is a side of it which is it's incredibly glitzy and glamorous and ludicrously expensive. And then there's a part of it down sort of around the Rascasse corner down on the waterfront there, which once the track closes at night is the most disgusting place you've ever been to on earth. It reminds me of some of the worst nightclubs I went to in my university days. It's just stag parties, going too large and throwing up on the floor. There's another side to Monaco on race week that's a little bit gross. But if you're there in your sparkly dresses on the yachts, it's absolutely gorgeous. Otherwise, it's a bit rank.

3:42Kimi Antonelli:I think you've nailed it there with call it expensive. because honestly for fans it's not the most accessible you know to get to the track you hear of people getting in their helicopters or getting in uber helicopters which is this new thing and i sound so old when i say that which is this new thing as if i don't know what an uber is and then they've just looked at a helicopter but here we are um and you know getting in an uber isn't really possible obviously around the track you know the major roads are closed all of these things so in terms of actual practicality it's not to take a boat you take a boat so so and it's not it's not I mean I say it's not crazy expensive it is crazy expensive literally to pop from one side of the harbour to the other but there are tenders running all the time so what you've got to do is you've just got to be really nice to the teams and see if they'll get you on a tender that'll take you over to the other side of the the harbour where you need to go um but it's great I I mean, one thing I love about Monaco is people watching.

4:39People watching in Monaco is just unreal because it's properly how the other half live. And it's just, it's hilarious because it is everything to excess.

4:53Kimi Antonelli:Yeah, I mean, it's kind of the, I mean, this could actually be slightly controversial, but I feel as if Vegas tried to emulate what Monaco is in a more American way. The glitz. I see that. I see that. I see that. But I mean, look, everyone knows Monaco of being the glitz and the glamour of the grid and the race that everyone looks forward to. But I feel in recent years, and I don't know what you think, Will, that there's now become more of a split down the middle of how good the race actually is. Because you've got, you know, lots of people saying it's all about the smallest margins. It proves who the best driver is.

5:32Kimi Antonelli:You know, one mistake and it's over. and then you've got the other side saying makes overtaking impossible monaco is literally just a you know a procession that's all it is yeah you know how can you call this an f1 race if you can't even race because you can't overtake each other and i think that's a really interesting argument i actually do kind of agree with the latter i know we could never get rid of monaco because it is the history of formula one yeah but but it's not a great race it's a boring race It's a really dull race. But qualifying at Monaco is the very best of the year because it's maximum commitment.

6:16As you so rightly said, it is any minuscule error. It means you're not just going to lose pole, you're going to be in the barrier, huge repair bill and time for the team. It's, you know, and the best come unstuck, trying to find that extra half a tenth of the second. If you go over the limit, you take, you know, an inch too much of a bite out of a corner. That's your suspension gone. And it's it's utterly exhilarating. There's there's very few things as exciting, I think, on the Formula One calendar as that one hour of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix. the racing itself has never been great in monaco and i'm not just talking the 2020s or the 2010s or the noughties or the 90s or the 80s i mean you can go back decades decades and decades i'm not even sure the racing there was great in the 1920s if i'm being totally honest but um it's it's it's never had the greatest racing but it is held on the pedestal because of what it represents and because of the glamour of the place and what it is.

7:28And it's the one that the drivers want to win the most because it's the one that requires the greatest commitment, the greatest skill, the greatest finesse, and is the most historic. So it has all of those things coming to it. Now, one thing I will say is that if the south of France gives us what the south of France can, and Monaco exists within this very odd and very quickly changeable little microclimate, where you see the clouds just starting to form on the top of the hills and then suddenly there is this almighty deluge of rain that appears out of nowhere, then you've got to race.

8:07Kimi Antonelli:Yeah. Because strategy goes out the window, everything gets randomised and it's utterly enthralling. So if Mother Nature plays her hand, Monaco can be an absolutely brilliant, brilliant race. that it's just the most exciting Saturday on the grid without discussion. And we put a poll out on our Instagram. And if you're not following our Instagram, make sure you do, at uptospedshow, on which team will dominate in Monaco. And the results are in. I feel like I'm doing my X Factor and deck or Dermot O 'Leary. Are you going to do a big pause before the reveal? Yeah, so in fourth place, it is 6 % for Red Bull.

8:51Kimi Antonelli:6 % they've given Max Verstappen I mean look this is a team we've called it that's fine in third place we've got 17 % with McLaren I think quite harsh Oscar Piastri on this track that's low Oscar Piastri on this track I think this could be but we're talking teams we're talking teams so number two Ferrari right? number two 27 % with Mercedes which I don't agree with this track you all know I am Kimi Antonelli's number one fan, this track is not Kimi Antonelli's I'm kind of with you there but it feels like Mercedes have such an advantage anyway, it kind of feels like it's going to be their weekend and you know, we talk about needing finesse, accuracy consistency Consistency, I sort of feel this is a George weekend.

9:51Kimi Antonelli:Well, then in first place... It was Ferrari. Ferrari. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was 50%. Do we sense a touch of romanticism because it's Charles' home race? Oh, I mean, that commentary. I am all for commentary. I said it to you when you did Indy 500, that that will go down as the best commentary ever. It's up there with the Premier League, Aguero. and that Charles Leclerc like you know is his home race the whole story with his dad Jake's he had me in tears oh I feel like we should go back and we should talk about George because I saw something on Instagram which really made me laugh I think he posted it yesterday and it was a photo of him and his girlfriend and the caption was at least I got lucky in one thing or something along those lines yeah lucky in love lucky with this with a laughing face yeah whatever it was cute very cute But it also shows, you know, George is very much hammering him.

10:47Kimi Antonelli:And I understand, obviously, what happened in the last race. He was very unlucky. Does that mean he's shifted that mindset? Is he ready to go into, you know, Monaco week with, this is a fresh start, put everything under the border? The post, I know it's just an Instagram post, but it kind of makes me think, you know, that's awesome. It's mind games. Mind games there, still lingering in his head. I don't think this is Kimi's track. You know, his late breaking, his just just understanding the track i think this does come with you'll you'll be able to tell me this has anyone won monaco on their first ever monaco race and their debut monaco oh don't do that to me oh well you know everything so senna nearly did in 84 um i was gonna say i think this They red flagged the race just as Senna was about to take the lead when he was running with a very small team called Tolman, which through many generations of evolution is now the team we know as Alpine.

11:51So it's sort of imagining Colopinto turning up with Alpine and winning on debut.

11:56Kimi Antonelli:Well, I have to say, Colopinto, since he met Messi, he's on a generational run. I wouldn't go generational, but let's say he's up to his game. He's on the run. Messi's given him some of the Messi power. I can just meet Messi for five seconds. Yeah, a little bit's rubbed off on him, maybe. Look, I'm not in a camp that says that Colopinto is a generational F1 talent, but he is legitimising his existence in a seat. But, no, Monaco is... Do you know what? I'm going to have forgotten somebody utterly blatantly obvious who won Monaco on debut. Shall I Google it quickly? Go on, you Google it and I'll chat some nonsense.

12:40It's an almighty challenge. And I think, listen, let's talk George very quickly. I think his comments post Canada that the pressure's off him and, you know, he's got nothing to lose now and all of that. I think that in and of itself is a little mind game-y, trying to put the pressure onto Kimi, trying to take it off himself. But whether he can drive with that freedom remains to be seen. Kimi, we love how he races. We love his youthful exuberance and the, you know, sort of the extremities that he can go to. And that can look a little wild. so whether he contained that around Monaco's streets will be fascinating to see.

13:24You know, people always said that Max was quite a wild driver and quite lurid and he tamed, you know, Monaco, but not before he'd had some pretty big shunts at Monaco.

13:34Kimi Antonelli:Well, Will, I've got an answer for you. Hit me. I think this is the first time in your life you've ever been wrong. Well, no, I'm not wrong. I just couldn't remember. It's only just turned 4am here. so okay who is it the only driver to win Monaco Grand Prix on their first ever Monaco F1 start was Juan Manuel Fangio Juan Manuel Fangio okay right in 1951 oh 50 okay I was close I was one year out so close he won driving for Alfa Romeo okay of course it was 50 of course he was racing in 50 what am I talking about well yeah but that's okay but that doesn't count because 1950 was the first was the first Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco the first Monaco Grand Prix goes all the way back to the 20s But 50 was the first year of the Formula One World Championship.

14:18So theoretically, everybody who won the race in a Grand Prix in 1950 was the first winner of the Formula One race in whatever country it was. I'm not having that. So, well, that tells you the difficulty of Monaco then. Not since it was every Formula One driver's first Formula One Grand Prix in Monaco in 1950 has a driver one on debut. And I don't think we're going to get a rookie winner this year. But if it rains, who knows?

14:47Kimi Antonelli:Yeah. And you never know what could happen. And we're going to be chatting all about it on Thursday's episode in the lead up to it. And of course, we'll have our recap episode on Monday as well. But I think now we should move on to move on to the breaking news of the Formula One world. this is uh probably more my bag than will i can jolie i'm going to say this is definitely your bag yes literally and metaphorically you're right if you can't guess what we're about to talk about it is the announcement of gucci buckle up kids yeah teaming up with alpine now this is a question from alice on tiktok who says what do you make of gucci teaming up with alpine now i'm gonna go first.

15:30Have the floor, Jolie, have the floor. It's all yours.

15:33Kimi Antonelli:Well, and I am almost certainly going to disagree on this, but look, I think it is mega exciting and I think it's going to change the way of Formula One in years to come. We'll look back at this moment and realise actually just quite how historic it is almost. So Gucci have a history of collaborating with amazing brands, massive conglomerates. We've got Gucci X Disney, Gucci X Adidas, Gucci X North Face. And when they collab, that doesn't suddenly mean that when Gucci and North Face wore out a puffer jacket, they're North Face prices. But it's their way of trying to tap into different markets.

16:05Kimi Antonelli:And I would say they're the only luxury brand. And I'm talking luxury, luxury. We're looking at the Chanel's of the world, the Prada's of the world, the Miu Miu's of the world that actually do this. You will never see a Chanel collab as of yet. I would love to. You'll never see a Prada collab as of yet. So this isn't completely out of the norm. And I think that's a good place to start because I have seen some reactions to like, what do Gucci know about collaborating, which I would say is completely wrong. What do Gucci know about Formula One is a different topic that we'll come on to. But when I look at sponsors of F1 and what they've actually done for the sport, it's massive.

16:44Kimi Antonelli:I mean, years and years ago, the sponsors of F1 was oil, cigarettes. And now the sponsors of F1 are responsible, and I'm very confident when I say this, in bringing in an entirety of a new fan base. Because you have got those, we'll talk only Gucci right now, that will have a massive, massive stake in the Asian market. That will probably be their biggest market, I would say. Formula One isn't too dissimilar. And now we're looking at those worlds colliding. You've got those that look up from saving up all their money and their dream of owning one Gucci bag to now tapping into what Formula One is to those that, you know, you could argue are lucky enough to only shop Gucci who might have never seen Formula One but suddenly want to wear this called collab world.

17:34Kimi Antonelli:so I think there's no disadvantage of it other than I have seen the reaction of how much things are going to cost you know there's jokes online that a cap is going to be 300 pounds a hoodie is going to be a thousand pounds plus you know a paddock jacket you're gonna have to you know get a whole new mortgage you're gonna need just like a cost cap in order to buy the merch is you know that argument online which I'm hoping they'll be able to read the room and bring it down slightly I just like the idea of the mechanics all being dressed in Gucci. Yeah, like head to toe. But I think Gucci coming in and working with Alpine doesn't mean that suddenly that they're going to have better performance and that they've got all of this Formula One knowledge and this is going to be the most incredible switch around.

18:19Kimi Antonelli:But what it does do, it's rumoured to be over a£120 million deal. It gives them more money. More money means more talent. You know, more money means better infrastructure. more money equals a bit bigger and better brand more money in formula one in any sport means bigger and better things which is just the harsh reality of the sport so do i think we can see a massive alpine rise yeah i do and i i am here for it i am so excited and this is my official application to get some free alpine x gucci merch i will support you guys this is me here and will what do you think it's a it's a very important deal as you say it's it's a landmark deal it's and and and look it's it's a title sponsorship deal okay so it's worth as you said 120 odd million over however many years so we're looking at what 30 40 million uh a year um which which is not to be sniffed at.

19:22It's a huge amount of money. And how Alpine ultimately used that is down to them within the budget cap and all that. But it's huge. It's a title sponsorship. I think anybody who thinks that we're going to suddenly start referring to the team as Gucci has another thing coming because we currently don't refer to Alpine as BWT. And that's their title sponsor. We don't call Ferrari HP. We don't call McLaren MasterCard. Look, is it huge? Yes, it's absolutely huge. But I think Gucci needs this the most. You know, Gucci has...

20:00Kimi Antonelli:What, you think Gucci need this more than Alpine? Gucci need this. So LMVH have stepped into the Formula One space. LVMH. What did I say? LVMH. LVMH. See, that shows you how much I know about the fashion world. But they've stepped... Obviously, they've stepped in as a Formula One partner. Gucci's being left behind in this space not just F1 but I think at this level of sport culture where that relevance intertwines Gucci has been left behind and Gucci's sales over the last 12 months have suffered terribly they're down I believe I'm right in saying over 20 percent over the last 12 months and even in the markets that you were mentioning Jolie China in particular, their sales are down massively.

20:47They're struggling. They're struggling for identity. And they need something to give them that boost. Now, having one of those cars or two of the cars, you know, one team within Formula One branded out kind of gaudy in Gucci will give them a place within the sport and sort of see them able, they would hope, I would imagine, with an LVMH. I got them the right way around. OK, with the LVMHs of the world. Yeah, there you go. T-B-G. Of the world. So I think they're hoping for that. I mean, look, there are fashion brands already involved, not to this extent. But I look back when the last time a fashion house did actually own a Formula One team.

21:38It wasn't just the title sponsor, but actually owned it. And that was Benetton. And we're talking about the genesis of the Alpine F1 team. Benetton is part of that genesis story. So we were talking about Tolman that Ayrton Senna drove for in 1984. That team became Benetton. Benetton became Renault. Renault became Alpine. That's a slightly truncated version of it. It's very, very complicated. But that's a truncated timeline of where we're at. Who ran Benetton? Flavio Briatore. Interestingly, who used to run Alpine? Luca Di Maio, who now runs the parent company of Gucci. So it's all intertwined.

22:20Which I love, by the way. It's all interlinked. it's cool it's cool look am I a fan of Gucci no I'll take Will's merch I'm I just I think it's I think as a brand I think it's a bit gauche I think it's a bit much it's a bit brash it's a bit in your face it's no psycho bunny for you it's not mate I think look it's less random of a

22:42Kimi Antonelli:sponsorship deal than many people can you know might say it's more one man joining up his contact You talk about Gucci bringing a new fan base to Formula One. For me, this makes total sense because Gucci needs Formula One's fan base more than bringing Gucci's fan base to Formula One. I think Gucci needs Formula One's fan base to come back to them. I think there's a bit of both here. Because otherwise, why would you do the deal otherwise? I think there's both. I think, look, we look at the new generation of Formula One fans. They're younger. There is a massive increase, which makes me so happy to say, of more female fans.

23:23Kimi Antonelli:Yeah. And I think that a deal like this only exacerbates that and, you know, makes it bigger, makes it better. And we look at, like, fashion across Formula One. Gucci wants to be cool again. And Formula One is cool. It's cool. Right. So this is about Gucci needing to bring in that new Formula One fan base and say, hey kids, look at us. We're hip, we're cool, we can do the Macarena. But I think it also brings in an audience of those that aren't into Formula One and, to be blunt, just have so much money that will buy anything that Gucci put their name onto. Again, fair. We look at Formula One and fashion and this isn't some random, you know, fashion's never been in Formula One, Boss were sponsors of McLaren from 1981.

24:11Kimi Antonelli:1981, I think, to 2014. Then they were with Mercedes. Then they were with Boss. Then their sister brand, I want to call it, or their other brand. Hugo Boss, I've been with V-Carb from 2024. You've got, you know, Rhys worked with McLaren. You've obviously now got Adidas as a big partner of both Mercedes. Tommy Hilfiger. Aldi, Tommy Hilfiger. There's so many different fashion brands. The reason this is such a... Did you just say Aldi? Aldi? Did I say Aldi? Yeah, I thought you were going to like, you know, high fashion brands. Aldi. Aldi. Aldi. But fashion in, you know, Formula One is an alien. I've been lucky to go to races because of those fashion brands, taking, you know, creators, people like myself.

24:58Kimi Antonelli:So I am all for these sponsors. I think, look, your original, more traditional fans won't be for this. but I think we have to remember the benefits of having sponsors, what that does for the sport. So whether you love or hate this, it's only good. Look, everyone needs money and it has to come from somewhere in order to run a Formula One team. So I think, look, I dread to think what the livery is going to look like. I shudder at what the team kit is going to look like. But, yeah, OK. I mean, look, I'm not a Gucci fan, but that's neither here nor there. It doesn't matter what I think. It doesn't matter whether I'm going to buy it or not.