Kimi Antonelli has some special guests with him for his first F1 home Grand Prix in Imola

Formula 1 rookie Kimi Antonelli has enjoyed a strong start to his first year on the grid. The 18-year-old rookie scored points in his debut at the Australian Grand Prix, captured pole position for the F1 Sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix, and currently sits sixth in the Drivers’ Championship standings, seven points ahead of Lewis Hamilton, the living legend he replaced at Mercedes after Hamilton left for Ferrari.

This week brings the Italian driver back to Italy for his first home race in F1, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, and he has some special guests with him.

His classmates.

Antonelli is still finishing school, and he decided to organize a trip for his classmates to visit the paddock and see what it is he does during a race week.

“Yeah, I organised this — thanks also to some people at Mercedes,” described Antonelli during the FIA Press Conference. “Rosa [Herrera Venegas], who’s in the room as well, helped. We were able to organise this for the school. I think it’s a good way for them to see with their own eyes this world. They used to watch the races on TV, but didn’t actually know what’s going on behind it.

“I think it’s a really good experience and I really hope they enjoy it. We’ve organised some activities — later on I’ll show them the car and explain a bit, without going too much into detail,” added Antonelli. “It’s a good way to keep the relationship because I don’t spend much time at home, so I don’t see them often. These little things can make the difference.”

The team shared an image of Antonelli with his classmates from the track on Thursday:

Note: Readers on Apple News will need to click the above link to see the post on social media.

Still, the Mercedes rookie conceded that keeping up with school has been challenging as he adjusts to life on the grid.

“Well, I’m not able to attend school, but I’m trying to study as much as I can, especially in those little moments I have free,” said Antonelli on Thursday in Imola. “I’m getting help from the school as well to try and catch up because I’ve definitely missed a lot of work during this time.

“But it’s not easy, because that also takes energy and effort. Especially ahead of such an important weekend, it’s really important to manage that side, not to do too much in order to save energy. But yeah, whenever I’m home or have a bit of time off, I try to do a little bit just to keep active and catch up as much as possible.”

Antonelli is also hoping the energy of his home race can help make a difference on the track this week.

“This weekend is going to be emotionally and mentally draining — home race in front of the Italian fans, and as I said, my family and friends will be attending. So it’s going to be really important to manage the energy, especially in those moments where I can, and not waste energy on things that are not useful,” began Antonelli.

“It’s going to be important to stay on top of that because it’s really easy to hit the bottom of the pack before the end of the weekend. Already a normal weekend is very tiring and draining, so this is like double. Of course I’m going to try to protect myself. The fact that I’ve got really good people around me really helps. We’re all aligned that this weekend is going to be tough. We’re preparing and I think we’re quite well prepared.

“At the end of the day, it’s another race weekend, but because of the circumstances it’s going to be different. At the same time, it’s going to be really exciting,” added the Mercedes rookie. “I think the energy is going to be amazing and that can be used to do even better on track. Really looking forward to see how we go this weekend.”

That weekend begins in earnest with two practice sessions on Friday, ahead of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.