Are karting prodigies guaranteed success in cars?

Motorsport news this week has focused on Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the young Italian prodigy who is about to make the jump from FRECA to F2. Under the wing of Mercedes F1 from the Mini category onwards, he has never disappointed. European Junior runner-up in 2019, he was then crowned European OK Champion twice in 2020 and 2021 in the colours of KR Motorsport. Italian and German F4 champion in his first full season in a single-seater in 2022, Kimi went on to win the Middle East Regional Formula Championship and the highly competitive European Regional Formula Championship by Alpine (FRECA) in 2023. At the age of 17, he will skip the F3 category and go straight into F2, remaining loyal to the Prema Racing team. Gwen Lagrue, known for his flair for spotting young talent, has previously supported the careers of Esteban Ocon, George Russell and Alex Albon. As advisor to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team’s Junior programme, he is following Antonelli, whose maturity and exceptional talent explain his move to F2 from 2024.

If Andrea-Kimi Antonelli’s karting career augured well for his car racing career, is he a unique case in point? It’s an understatement to say that Max Verstappen made a big impression from an early age at the wheel of a kart. In his final season in 2013, with the official CRG team, he came close to an unprecedented grand slam by winning three of the four major titles: the World Championship and the European KZ Championship (gearbox karts) as well as the European KF Championship (direct-drive karts).

The same year, Lando Norris was crowned European KF-Junior Champion, then won the CIK-FIA International Super Cup and went on to win the 2014 KF World Championship, again with Ricky Flynn Motorsport. Once again, the general consensus at the time was that he had a bright future in single-seaters.

Prediction is neither a science nor an exact one. The counter-example of Nyck de Vries is edifying in this respect. Considered a karting prodigy, the Dutchman left the sport with an impressive record of achievements at Zanardi under the guidance of Dino Chiesa: European KF3 Champion in 2009, KF2 World Champion in 2010 and, finally, KF1 World Champion in 2011. At the time, everyone saw him as a future F1 champion, starting with McLaren, who recruited him and included him in their communication campaign alongside Lewis Hamilton. Nyck waited until 2023 to enter F1 and take part in ten Grand Prix without glory with Alpha Tauri.

So it’s with great caution that Kartcom Selection would like to mention a young French driver who is making sparks fly in the new Mini 60 category. 10-year-old Théo Battisti has simply won everything this year in France in a very convincing manner that he already displayed last year. A look at his driver sheet on Kartcom shows that he has scored nothing but victories so far in 2023. His race management is impressive, with an extraordinary resistance to pressure and an unfailing determination to win. His results have not been affected by the FFSA’s new strategy of drawing lots for standard engines supplied by Vortex via Tony Kart France, as he has won both the French Cup and the French Championship. It will be interesting to follow Théo Battisti this week at the IWF 23 in Portimão.