F1 superstar Kimi Antonelli could leave Mercedes in 'two years' over Ferrari interest

Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur in front of a Ferrari background — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Kimi Antonelli could leave Mercedes in 'two years' over Ferrari interest

Antonelli currently leads the championship with Mercedes, but will they be able to keep ahold of him?

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Thursday 7 May 2026 10:57

Mercedes F1 star Kimi Antonelli may have already kick-started his journey to becoming a Ferrari driver despite currently enjoying success with Toto Wolff's outfit.

The Austrian team principal has had his eye on Antonelli since he was just a child racing karts around for fun, but when Wolff took the Italian under his wing and signed him up to Mercedes' driver development programme, he had big things in mind.

When it was announced in 2024 that Wolff had selected the F2 star to replace the outgoing seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, he was naturally met with criticism from many who questioned if the driver was ready for the big leagues.

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This wasn't helped by the fact that Antonelli had crashed George Russell's Mercedes during his FP1 debut in front of an Italian crowd that same weekend.

But four rounds into the 2026 championship, Antonelli has gotten the better of Russell and is now 20 points ahead of him in the championship standings, much to Wolff's delight.

But all this talk of whether Antonelli is the new favourite for this year's drivers' title has Italians excited- could he finally bring Italian success back to Ferrari?

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The Scuderia haven't achieved championship success of any kind since 2008, with their last drivers' title victory coming the year before.

And even that was thanks to Finnish star Kimi Raikkonen.

In fact, Italy hasn't seen a race-winning talent grace the F1 grid in almost 20 years, with Antonelli bringing an end to a drought in Italian motorsport at the Chinese GP in March, when he became the first Italian driver to win an F1 race since Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2006 Malaysian GP.

Fast-forward to May 2026 and Antonelli has now become the first driver to convert his first three career pole positions into race wins, and even Wolff is worried Italian sporting fans might be getting ahead of themselves.

Sure, he has a long way to go to claim the title in what is now a 22-race campaign, but should the 19-year-old take home the championship come Abu Dhabi in December, the only logical next step is a move to Ferrari, no?

F1 expert Peter Windsor certainly thinks so.

During a livestream on his YouTube channel, Windsor weighed up the natural progression that Antonelli's career could enjoy if he is able to pick up momentum with Mercedes this season and beyond.

Though the teenager is enjoying success with the Silver Arrows as things stand, Windsor noted that Antonelli could hardly say no to the Scuderia should they ever come calling.

The former F1 team manager mused the potential future switch to Ferrari, saying: "Being an Italian, if he gets the big offer from Ferrari at some point, let's say, two years down the road, and he's won a world championship at Mercedes, it's going to be difficult for him to say no to it, isn't he?

"An Italian, to go to Ferrari and try to win a championship again, that would be pretty impressive, wouldn't it?"

F1 Ferrari Mercedes Kimi Antonelli Peter Windsor