Kimi Antonelli vows Goodwood return after maiden Festival of Speed run

Kimi Antonelli made his Goodwood Festival of Speed debut in the Mercedes-AMG PureSpeed

Current Formula 1 drivers' championship leader Kimi Antonelli has made his Goodwood Festival of Speed debut, capping off a busy week that included the British Grand Prix, a visit to Wimbledon and tyre testing at Silverstone.

Appearing on the Pirelli fan zone stage, the Italian driver was quick to admit that he ignored instructions to take it easy during his maiden run up the famous Goodwood hillclimb. "They told me to go slow, but of course I didn’t listen," Antonelli joked. "I just tried to push, but it was good."

He added: "It's my first time, and I've got to go back home tonight unfortunately, but definitely I'm coming back next year, and hopefully I will be able to enjoy the weekend more, the experience more because it's just so cool. So many cool race cars, and it's the heart of motorsport. So, it's really cool to be here."

Antonelli got behind the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG PureSpeed for his run up the hillclimb. The two-seater, which serves as the inaugural model for the marque's ultra-exclusive Mythos series, draws inspiration from F1.

It forgoes the traditional roof and windscreen in favour of a motorsport-inspired halo. The PureSpeed is powered by a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine with 800Nm of torque. It accelerates from zero to 100km/h in just 3.6 seconds and can reach a top speed of 315km/h. Only 250 units of the PureSpeed were released, making it an ultra-rare piece of machinery.

The PureSpeed also comes with two aerodynamically optimised helmets, which have been designed specifically for the speedster. The helmets feature an intercom communication system to allow the driver and passenger to communicate and listen to music, and they will come in the colour chosen for the car.