Bruno Senna reveals plans to put Kimi Antonelli behind the wheel of Ayrton Senna’s F1 car

Novembro 12, 2026 lojamais44@gmail.com

Former Formula 1 driver Bruno Senna says he wants to give Kimi Antonelli the chance to drive one of Ayrton Senna’s cars next year, after the 2026 world champion visited the family’s estate in Brazil.

Antonelli arrived at the estate days after clinching his maiden F1 championship at the Mexican Grand Prix, becoming the youngest driver in the history of the series to win the title.

Speaking on F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast, Bruno said the Mercedes driver barely wanted to get out of the Lotus 98T that his uncle raced in 1986.

“It was really, really fun to see him,” he said. “We have the Lotus, the ‘86 car. We had him jump inside the car, and he didn’t want to leave the car. You had the turbo boost knob, and he’s exploring everything – having an anti-roll bar thing that you can change, and there’s a gearstick.”

Antonelli’s love of the Lotus 98T gave Bruno the idea of having the Italian drive the car next year.

“This is something that was quite funny – I was talking [about] next year when Lotus or McLaren want to do something, we can try to organise for [him] to drive one of these cars because he fits really well in the car,” he continued.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

“You know, his height is perfect for it. His dad was like, ‘I’m not sure if you can drive the manual car’, and Kimi was like, ‘sure I can!’”

In addition to sitting in the Lotus 98T, Antonelli also had some time on the go-kart track that Ayrton designed on the estate, where Bruno saw first-hand what the 20-year-old can do.

“Finally, we drove on the go-kart track that Ayrton designed,” he added. “It was a really fun thing when I was a kid, and Kimi was incredible. He was so fast, so consistent. We had a fun time. I would say that I was slower because I’m 10kg heavier, but I think there’s a bit more than that in it, to be honest! He was amazing.

“The track was very dirty, very full of stone. Kimi was able to create a groove, and he was able to stay within that groove so consistently. It was really impressive. He couldn’t move 10cm off because then you don’t even run wide – you go onto the grass and spin out because it was so dirty. It was a really cool experience and showed why he’s a world champion.”