{"id":935537,"date":"2026-10-21T00:30:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T00:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/935537\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T00:30:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T00:30:16","slug":"after-winning-the-formula-1-title-with-mercedes-is-another-with-ferrari-on-kimi-antonellis-radar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/935537\/","title":{"rendered":"After winning the Formula 1 title with Mercedes, is another with Ferrari on Kimi Antonelli’s radar?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kimi Antonelli is closing in on becoming Formula 1 World Champion<\/a> at just 20, underlining how dramatically the sport has changed. <\/p>\n

Former F1 driver Riccardo Patrese believes his fellow Italian has the talent to join the greatest drivers in history, but first he must beat Max Verstappen in a championship battle.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with the\u00a0Casinostugan<\/a>\u00a0media team, Patrese also discussed Antonelli’s long-term prospects, including the possibility of eventually driving for Ferrari. However, he warned that sentiment has little place in Formula 1, particularly when Mercedes have provided the machinery capable of delivering a World Championship.<\/p>\n

With eight victories already this season, Antonelli stands on the brink of becoming Italy’s first Formula 1 World Champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953. Yet Patrese believes winning a title is only the beginning of a much bigger challenge<\/p>\n

The prospect of an Italian World Champion eventually representing Ferrari in the modern ear is naturally appealing, but Patrese believes Antonelli should prioritise his career over national sentiment.<\/p>\n

Asked about Antonelli potentially joining the Scuderia, Patrese said: “I can like that very much. But he has to look out for his own interests first because there is not much room for \u2018heart feelings\u2019 in F1. Even if you like to be a Ferrari driver, if you are in a car that is stronger than Ferrari, that gives you the opportunity to win. And so, you stay with them.<\/p>\n

“In a long time, he probably can think about going to Ferrari as Hamilton did. But this is not something that is happening tomorrow, for sure. I don’t know the exact terms of his contract with Toto Wolff, but Mercedes gave him a big help to be where he is, and they want to keep him for sure.”<\/p>\n

Verstappen remains the ultimate benchmark for Antonelli\"\ud83c\udfc6<\/p>\n

Patrese also highlighted how dramatically Formula 1 careers have changed since his generation, when drivers generally needed considerably more experience before challenging for championships.<\/p>\n

The former Williams driver explained: “Modern racing drivers have a shorter career than in my period because they have 24 races a year. They come in much earlier \u2013 even Hamilton became World Champion in his second season. <\/p>\n

“They come and they win. In my time, drivers were coming in for at least four or five years and you had to learn how to do it. It’s difficult to see Antonelli or the new generation staying for 15 years in Formula 1,” Patrese reckoned.<\/p>\n

Despite Antonelli’s remarkable championship campaign, Patrese believes the Mercedes youngster must prove himself against Verstappen before comparisons with Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher become justified.<\/p>\n

Patrese said: “The next step for Kimi is to fight against Verstappen. Maybe next year we will see that, because Mercedes must be happy that Red Bull weren’t performing as well at the start of the season. Next year, Kimi has to work hard, not just to win one championship or eight races, but to fight against other big champions and try to beat them.<\/p>\n

“Then he can step into that league of big champions like Senna, Schumacher, and Verstappen. I think he has the numbers to be in that league, but he has to work hard and fight.”<\/p>\n

Patrese backs Verstappen for Austin victory\"Verstappen-Singapore-6-2026\"\/Verstappen’s recent victories in Malaysia<\/a> and Singapore<\/a> have demonstrated Red Bull’s improving competitiveness following a difficult start to the new regulations.Patrese expects that momentum to continue at Aus tin, although Antonelli’s championship position means the Mercedes driver has little reason to take unnecessary risks.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to the United States Grand Prix, Patrese said: “Kimi could win, but Russell has to stop having bad luck. It’s a countdown to see when Kimi is going to be champion. I don’t think it will happen in Austin, but it will be nice to see if Verstappen can make it three wins in a row. I think he will.<\/p>\n

“Kimi is not in a position to push 101% right now because he just needs to get the final points to win the championship. But it should be nice to see a fight between Verstappen and Antonelli for the win.<\/p>\n

“Max has the chance to finish second in the championship. If he keeps winning races \u2013 after being nowhere at the beginning of the season \u2013 he can be vice World Champion. I’m also curious to see how Isack Hadjar reacts to this, because Max is back in good form, and we know that when Max is in good form, his teammates suffer.”<\/p>\n

For Antonelli to clinch the championship in Austin, he must win, with George Russell finishing P9 or lower and Lewis Hamilton P5 or lower.<\/p>\n

Victory would give Antonelli nine wins this season, securing the relevant countback advantage over Russell should they eventually finish level on points.<\/p>\n

Whether the coronation comes in Austin or later, Patrese’s message is clear. Antonelli’s first World Championship would establish him among Formula 1’s elite, but defeating Verstappen in a direct title fight would elevate his reputation considerably further.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kimi Antonelli is closing in on becoming Formula 1 World Champion at just 20, underlining how dramatically the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":935538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,14017,63,135399,817,236469,813,816,10115,85,129597],"class_list":["post-935537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-austin","tag-australia","tag-cota","tag-f1","tag-f1-drivers-news","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-kimi-antonelli","tag-sports","tag-united-states-gp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=935537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/935538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=935537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=935537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}