Mercedes Spent Millions on Nurturing Antonelli After Ferrari Said No
Mercedes spent nine years and more than €10 million developing Kimi Antonelli after Ferrari passed on him as a child, Wolff said.
- Following his ninth win of the season at last Sunday's Grand Prix in Austin, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff emphasized that Kimi Antonelli's success reflects "the work of nine years" of development.
- Mercedes secured the driver in 2018 when Antonelli was 11, after former manager Giovanni Minardi noted Ferrari deemed him too young and Mercedes provided stronger future guarantees.
- Wolff detailed the significant effort behind this integration, citing "10 or more millions" spent on career and character development alongside race engineer Peter Bono Bonnington.
- Former Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo expressed regret that Ferrari missed signing the talent, while Piero Ferrari recently praised the driver, acknowledging the opportunity that slipped away.
- Now 20, Antonelli is poised to become Italy's first Formula One champion in 73 years, marking a historic achievement for the driver Mercedes nurtured to succeed Lewis Hamilton.
51 Articles
51 Articles
Radio France Internationale
Antonelli ready to rewrite the Formula One record books in Mexico
The runaway leader of the drivers’ championship needs to finish ninth or better in his Mercedes to take the title aged 20 years and 68 days, lowering the record held by Sebastian Vettel by more than three years. Almost more remarkably, he will also succeed Italy's last champion Alberto Ascari, who won for Ferrari in 1953, after a gap of 73 years during which his country has become synonymous with Formula One. After winning the United States Gra…
Motor racing-Antonelli ready for final push to become F1's youngest champion
MEXICO CITY, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Kimi Antonelli did not get to swig real champagne on the podium after he won in Texas last weekend, the 20-year-old Mercedes driver still too young for local drinking laws, but Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix could be quite some shindig.
Channel News Asia
PressNewsAgencyMercedes spent millions on nurturing Antonelli after Ferrari said no
MEXICO CITY, Oct 27 : Ferrari fans can only imagine what might have been had local boy Kimi Antonelli signed for their team rather than Mercedes as a young go-karter.Formula One's oldest and most successful team had the chance to secure the talent now set to become Italy's first champion in 73 years, and For
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 59% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
