{"id":955706,"date":"2026-11-02T16:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T16:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/955706\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T16:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T16:52:10","slug":"wolff-hails-world-champion-antonelli-as-role-model-in-blast-at-f1s-entitled-moaners-formula-one-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/955706\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolff hails world champion Antonelli as role model in blast at F1\u2019s \u2018entitled moaners\u2019 | Formula One 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, has described his Formula One world champion Kimi Antonelli<\/a> as a new kind of racing driver who represents the future of the sport, com\u00adparing him scathingly to what he called some of the entitled \u00admoaners on the grid and declaring \u201cselfless, ruthless\u201d drivers now dead to F1.<\/p>\n

Antonelli secured his first world title<\/a> in Mexico City on Sunday, at 20\u00a0years old becoming the \u00adyoungest F1 champion in only his second season in the sport. The \u00adItalian\u2019s attitude, enthusiasm and sense of fair play have been notable in a revelatory season for a driver so young and Wolff believes he has proved to be a gamechanger in more ways than one.<\/p>\n

Wolff said: \u201cThis notion of win\u00a0at all costs, selfish, opportunistic,\u00a0ruth\u00adless for your own benefit, that model of \u00adracing driver has died. We have\u00a0a new champion that represents\u00a0\u00advalues: humility, integrity, loyalty, respect. Being himself. He should be a role model for many other young drivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe should be a role model for the few entitled ones in Formula\u00a0One. The endless moaners on the radio. The ones that complain, the ones that crash. Look at this kid of 20 years and then think what you can do in order to improve. That\u2019s the message to these kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimi Antonelli celebrates with the Mercedes team at the Aut\u00f3dromo Hermanos Rodr\u00edguez. Photograph: Hasan Bratic\/DeFodi Images\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Wolff did not name the targets of his ire but his comments will be lost on no one and clearly he believes Antonelli, who has been with \u00adMercedes since he was 12, is an excellent example.<\/p>\n

Antonelli sealed the title with his third-place finish in Mexico, after a season where he has been on top throughout but has driven clean. Fellow world champions including Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris offered similar plaudits to the young driver who has bested them and his Mercedes teammate, George Russell, roundly beaten by the Italian this year, has \u00adacknowledged his honest and fair approach to racing.<\/p>\n

Wolff went further in stating that the most senior figures in the sport felt Antonelli embodied what they wanted in Formula One<\/a> drivers, including Stefano Domenicali, the F1 chief executive, and the president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is how the FIA, that Mohammed, that Stefano, that I would want to\u00a0see racing drivers in the future,\u201d Wolff said. \u201cThat is \u00admodern \u00adFormula One. Kimi represents the \u00admodern \u00adFormula One driver, because of those values, not only because of his talent. The talent is there with everyone. But you got to be a good person too and he has demonstrated that you can beat everyone out there by being a good person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before Wolff had raised the subject in Mexico, Antonelli had already expressed his desire to retain his sense of self, even as world champion. Now entitled to put the No\u00a01 on his car next season, he said he would instead retain his current No\u00a012. Antonelli chose it because of his admiration for Ayrton Senna who used it early in his career with Lotus between 1985 and 1987 and when he won his first title in 1988 for McLaren.<\/p>\n

Kimi Antonelli is held aloft by Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Photograph: DPPI\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll stay with No 12 because \u00adobviously it\u2019s a very special number for me but also it\u2019s a way for me to stay grounded, to stay humble,\u201d Antonelli said when asked if he would adopt the champion\u2019s No 1. \u201cI feel like by keeping No 12, it allows me to have a new point where to start and build on everything again and try to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

After what was clearly a hugely moving experience<\/a> in taking the title, Antonelli, was raised aloft on the podium after the race by \u00adVerstappen and Hamilton, two greats of the sport who finished in first and second in Mexico, which the 20-year-old said he would treasure and immortalise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will definitely frame that picture and put it in my house,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just an incredible moment. To see so much respect from two incredible drivers in the history of the sport is truly special that will live and will always be remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, has described his Formula One world champion Kimi Antonelli as a new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":955707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-955706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=955706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/955707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=955706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=955706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=955706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}