The son of the great Enzo and vice-president of the Maranello company goes unbalanced: “At every race he reminds me of our Niki Lauda”. Toto Wolff controversial: “At Ferrari they would never have put him in the best car”
This is the thought of all Italian Formula 1 fans: see Kimi Antonelli drive a Ferrari, the Red has always been like the national football team, but the love that has exploded for the new world champion has already manifested itself in all its warmth after Kimi’s victory at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza when he triumphed after a crazy comeback and celebrated by diving into the crowd cheering him on. A crowd that was largely made up of Ferrari fans, but the love for the Italian flag was stronger than anything, arriving to celebrate the victory of Mercedes, their historic rival. Now to that feeling is added an authoritative opinion, that of Piero Ferrari. The son of the great Enzo is today the vice president of the Maranello company and in one interview with the Swiss newspaper Blick he said: “At every race he reminds me of our Niki Lauda, and from my point of view it is an extraordinary compliment, obviously well deserved. Kimi, like the first Niki in Ferrari, immediately showed a surprising maturity. I don’t remember any serious mistakes made by the Austrian when my father entrusted him with our car. In the same way, Antonelli was able to avoid mistakes resulting from inexperience. This is a very significant detail, because it bears witness to the balance of the sampleAnd then on the comparison with Verstappen: “Max is a phenomenon! But it is also fair to point out that, in his very first years in F1, the Dutchman made more mistakes than Kimi. Then, of course, the comparison between them will be all to be enjoyed, hoping from my point of view that Leclerc and Hamilton will also be in the fight for the title in 2027. My father knew how to appreciate the natural instinct for speed, accompanied by clarity in managing the mechanical vehicle. And in this Antonelli is already a master”.
Toto Wolff’s dig at Ferrari
Those who have believed in Kimi Antonelli since he was little more than a child are now enjoying their revenge after the criticism received at the beginning of 2025 when the Bolognese driver seemed too immature. Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal does not spare a stab in Maranello: “No one at Mercedes has ever doubted Antonelli, we have always supported him even when the results didn’t arrive. If he had been at Ferrari or Red Bull there would have been doubts, they would never have put him in the best car straight away and parked him in a small team, like Bearman. We had a project for Kimi, a plan.”
