Eliska Babickova, the now ex-girlfriend of Mercedes F1 star Kimi Antonelli, has lifted the lid on their break-up in a video explaining why their relationship came to an end
Mark Whiley Sports Writer and Amos Murphy
09:57, 25 Feb 2026Updated 10:12, 25 Feb 2026
Kimi Antonelli and Eliska Babickova have gone their separate ways(Image: Jayce Illman, Getty Images)
Kimi Antonelli has been dumped by his girlfriend on the eve of the new Formula One season because of “issues” in their relationship.
Antonelli was the fresh face on the grid last year, with the teenage prodigy competing in his debut campaign at motorsport’s top table. It proved a promising beginning to life in F1 for the Italian, who secured seventh place in the drivers’ standing, just six points adrift of Lewis Hamilton, the man he replaced at Mercedes.
He’ll be keen to progress further this year but his preparations for the new season may have been disrupted following his split from girlfriend Eliska Babickova. In an Instagram message shared with her 168,000 followers, Eliska revealed: “I’m finally here to address the breakup rumours…
Babickova is active on Instagram where she has 168,000 followers(Image: babickovaeli/Instagram)
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“So first I want to say, I am addressing this because I have always been honest and I feel like I don’t hide anything, also it’s quite recent because throughout February, me and Kimi were trying to figure stuff out. We were not really sure what point the relationship was at ourselves.
“I’ve seen so many speculations and fake narratives and news, that’s just not right and I want to set the record straight. One girl messaged me and she was getting death threats because some people made up something really disgusting.”
Babickova insisted no one else was involved in the break-up(Image: babickovaeli/Instagram)
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Eliska has posted photos of herself and Kimi together on social media, hinting they’ve been an item since late 2023. She added: “Yes we did break up.
“I was the one to end the relationship because I felt we no longer aligned in our personal lives and what we wanted for our futures. Also, our values towards the end of the relationship were very different. That’s basically it.
“There’s no massive drama. No other men, no other women, no others involved, there was no cheating. It is super wrong for anyone to assume that, because it’s very misrepresentative of who me and Kimi are as people.
Babickova while supporting Antonelli at a grand prix weekend last season(Image: babickovaeli/Instagram)
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“Although we did have issues towards the end, other people were never the problem. It just misrepresents everything our relationship was and I don’t like that.”
Antonelli’s focus will be on racing at the season opener in Melbourne next month, as he aims to kick off his second full season as a Mercedes driver on a high note. With the changes in engine regulations, Mercedes are anticipated to be leading contenders for both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships.
