After decades of dreaming about having a great Italian driver, anyone would have bet that the country’s next jewel in Formula 1 would arrive through Ferrari. However, Kimi Antonelli is leading the world championship behind the wheel of Mercedes, the team where he came through the ranks. He hasn’t even walked on Ferrari’s grounds yet.
Logically, the rumor mill has already started in Italy, and one rumor has particular steam: Ferrari wants Antonelli by fair means or foul for 2028. A situation that at the moment makes Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ boss, laugh. To the extent that he has mocked Ferrari about how Wolff went to Italy and discovered the country’s young gem.
Ferrari wants Antonelli for 2028; Mercedes for now only mocks
Ferrari hasn’t had an Italian driver in Formula 1 since Giancarlo Fisichella in 2009, when he stood in for the injured Felipe Massa. If we set aside the temporary replacements, the last Italian at Maranello was Ivan Capelli in 1992. And to find a world champion you have to go back to Alberto Ascari in 1953, the only Italian champion with Ferrari.
A historic drought that Ferrari wants to end. The problem is that after years of searching for the great Italian jewel of Formula 1, it has been Mercedes who found him. His name is Kimi Antonelli, 19 years old, and he already leads the Formula 1 World Championship. No one misses the point that Ferrari will do everything possible to recruit him.
The rumors already point to Ferrari going all out to seal his signing in 2028, when Lewis Hamilton’s contract ends and a seat becomes available in Maranello. Asked about the rumors, Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal and Antonelli’s mentor and discoverer, burst out laughing. For now, there are only taunts.
Wolff concedes that “we are aware of the interest, but Kimi has been a Mercedes driver since he was eleven years old.” The Austrian manager adopts a wry tone, asserting that “Ferrari should have done its homework six or seven years ago, instead of realizing now that there is a good Italian driver. I suppose they will do everything possible to sign him.”
And it’s true that Antonelli has been mentored by Mercedes for more than six years, and the German powerhouse has supported his entire development. In fact, Wolff recalls that “last year he finished nine races in a row without scoring and people criticized us for signing an inexperienced driver,” and he seals it with a firm “we have always believed in him.”
At 19 years old and with a future ahead of him, it would be unusual for Antonelli not to feel the Ferrari itch at some point. For the moment, though, Mercedes is staking its claim.
Images | Mercedes
