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Toto Wolff slams "endless radio moaners" over Kimi Antonelli.

Toto Wolff slams "endless radio moaners" over Kimi Antonelli.

Kimi Antonelli paid a visit to Ayrton Senna's nephew and nieces ahead of this weekend's São Paulo Grand Prix.

He described it as an 'unforgettable day.'

Senna has long been the guiding inspiration behind Antonelli's career.

The Italian grew up on stories of the three-time champion and has idolised him since childhood.

A tribute reflected in his choice of race number.

Antonelli carries number 12, the number Senna used for part of his own career.

He will keep it again next season purely to honour him.

For Antonelli, Senna is far more than a former Formula 1 driver.

He is a source of inspiration.

That made his visit to the Senna family all the more significant.

Upon arriving in Brazil after becoming world champion in Mexico City, Antonelli travelled with his father Marco to spend time with Bruno, Bianca and Paula Senna.

Bruno is Ayrton's nephew.

Bianca and Paula are Ayrton's nieces.

The new world champion shared a photo on Instagram of himself sitting in the legendary Lotus 98T.

That is the car in which Senna won the Spanish and Detroit Grands Prix in 1986.

It carried the same number 12.

For Antonelli, it was clearly a special and emotional visit to the Senna family.

In the newly crowned world champion's Instagram post, he thanked the Senna family wholeheartedly.

Toto Wolff slams "endless radio moaners" over Kimi Antonelli.

Antonelli wrote: 'An unforgettable day.'

'Thank you to the entire Senna family.'

'It will take some time to sink in, but I will carry these memories with me forever.'

The Senna family also felt honoured by the visit from Kimi and Marco Antonelli.

Paula Senna shared more photos of the visit.

Her caption read: 'We had the pleasure of welcoming the newest world champion, Kimi Antonelli on a very special occasion: standing next to Ayrton Senna’s iconic Lotus, celebrating his victory with a very heartfelt gift, one of my sculptures of Ayrton.'

'And we had the opportunity to see from ourselves what a special character he is.'

'A connection between generations who share the same passion for motorsports and the pursuit of excellence.'

'Congratulations, Kimi, on this great achievement and on the career you’ve been building on the track!'

The visit comes just days after Antonelli clinched his first Formula 1 world championship in Mexico City.

He won the title at just 20 years old.

That race was not without drama.

According to Bradley Lord, deputy team principal of Mercedes, Antonelli's engine oil pan had cracked.

'If you want a sign that this is Kimi’s year, we retrieved the car after the race and removed the underside, which was covered in oil,' Lord explained.

'The oil pan cracked, and Kimi says he thinks with about four laps to go, he could feel the engine just starting to struggle.'

'He was right on the verge of retiring from the race, yet he held on.'

Antonelli still has enough spare engine parts in his inventory to get through Brazil without any issues.

Mercedes continues to work on introducing its ADUO 1 upgrade before the end of the season.

Toto Wolff slams "endless radio moaners" over Kimi Antonelli.

In practical terms, the newly crowned world champion will not face any engine penalties in São Paulo.

Antonelli is a great admirer of Ayrton Senna.

He was hosted by the Brazilian champion's family this week.

He can therefore hope for the perfect scenario and aim for victory again this week at Interlagos.

The visit also comes amid ongoing speculation about Antonelli's long-term future.

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