Kimi Antonelli receives 'public eye' advice after 'DJ transformation'

David Coulthard believes Kimi Antonelli has to now "adapt to being in the public eye" as he closes in on becoming F1 world champion.

Antonelli is the favourite to become the 2026 champion as he holds a 59-point advantage over team-mate George Russell and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, who are tied for second place.

Antonelli also has an additional buffer of seven wins over Russell on two, with the number of race victories being used to break any ties on points. 

Should he go on to claim the title, Antonelli would smash the record as the youngest-ever F1 champion at 20 years old, shattering Sebastian Vettel's 2010 record of 23 years old. 

Antonelli is in just his second season, and as his fame grows, it is something 13-time grand prix winner Coulthard believes the Italian will have to get adjusted to in becoming a "famous person."

"The challenge is that now he's famous; now he's in the public eye. You saw on social media; he was on summer holiday at some nightclub, and the DJ brought him up, and he's just doing a normal thing," Coulthard exclusively told RacingNews365. 

"But people are now filming that, so he's now doing that for the first time, because before he was famous, there was no DJ pulling him up and putting him in the thing. 

"So he has to adapt to now being a famous person as well as being a fast racing driver, but I, speaking with the family, I'm very confident he'll keep his feet on the ground.