{"id":665594,"date":"2026-05-12T08:11:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/665594\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T08:11:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:11:10","slug":"not-correct-to-say-ferrari-should-have-discovered-antonelli-instead-of-mercedes-wolff-racefans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/665594\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cNot correct\u201d to say Ferrari should have discovered Antonelli instead of Mercedes \u2013 Wolff \u2013 RaceFans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says Ferrari doesn\u2019t deserve criticism for overlooking Andrea Kimi Antonelli<\/a> when he was a kart racer.<\/p>\n

Antonelli joined Mercedes\u2019 junior driver programme in 2018. According to his father, Ferrari\u2019s then-team principal Maurizio Arrivabene previously turned down the opportunity to sign the 11-year-old due to his age<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However Wolff doesn\u2019t believe Italy\u2019s historic Formula 1 team deserves criticism for overlooking the country\u2019s new star driver, who is leading the world championship for Mercedes. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow everyone talks about Kimi\u2019s talent, about how early we found him,\u201d Wolff told La Gazzetta dello Sport<\/a>. \u201cI hear people saying things like: \u2018Ferrari should have discovered him when he was young.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Andrea<\/a>Mercedes backed Antonelli from a young age\u201cBut that is not correct, because the true value of our Mercedes junior programme has been creating the right environment for him to grow, giving him the best tools and supporting him through difficult situations. Talent is only the starting point, but the real work has happened during these eight years together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mercedes has brought other drivers into F1, including Antonelli\u2019s team mate George Russell<\/a>. However the team began working with Antonelli at a younger age.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Kimi this is a long-term project, one we began as a team many years ago,\u201d said Wolff. \u201cWe have a fantastic group of people who, at every level, make sure he can perform at his best and feel protected while remaining himself both as a driver and as a young man. His parents have helped enormously because they have done, and continue to do, a fantastic job of raising Kimi with the right values.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe talent is only the starting point, but the real work has been done over these eight years together. He has a long future ahead of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell has fallen 20 points behind his team mate in the drivers\u2019 championship standings as Antonelli has won the last three rounds in a row. However Wolff expected him to rebound at the next round in Montreal, where he won last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we love about this sport is that the stopwatch at the end of the race never lies, and the stopwatch says Kimi deservedly won the last three grands prix,\u201d said Wolff. \u201cRussell has not performed quite as well, in some cases because of team problems, bad luck, and in Miami because of his own mistakes. That said, we know George\u2019s value and we know he will return, starting in Canada, highly competitive and ready to make life difficult for his rivals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Formula 1
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