Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff delivers extraordinary Ferrari dig over Ollie Bearman decision

Toto Wolff has criticised Ferrari for the way they handle their young drivers following Kimi Antonelli's sensational F1 championship win.

The Italian became the sport's youngest ever world champion on Sunday after finishing third at the Mexican Grand Prix in just his second season in F1.

Antonelli is only the third driver in the modern day to win the title in his second year, following Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 and Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

It marks an amazing success story for Wolff and his Mercedes team who batted off criticism in choosing an 18-year-old Antonelli to replace the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton when he went to Ferrari.

It's not been all plain sailing either, Antonelli was in tears at his awful form after the Belgian Grand Prix last year when Mercedes were again criticised for putting him an F1 car too early.

But their patience and faith in the 20-year-old has been rewarded with a dominant title victory, promising more to come.

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Wolff digs out Ferrari and Red Bull

It shows Mercedes were willing to stick with their superstar despite the rough 2025 campaign, and it's led to Wolff using the opportunity to poke fun at his rivals.

Ferrari were his target, insisting a driver like Antonelli wouldn't have got into their team due to the way they treat young drivers, referring to Ollie Bearman, who despite being contracted at Maranello and having high promise has spent two seasons (and an expected third) at the lower midfield Haas team.

Wolff said: "Don't call it a miracle. This world championship is the result of a plan started years ago that I'm proud of.

"No one at Mercedes ever doubted Antonelli; we always supported him even when the results weren't coming.

"If he'd been at Ferrari or Red Bull, there would have been doubts. They would never have put him in the best car straight away and would have parked him in a small team, like Bearman. We had a project for Kimi, a schedule."

Red Bull is a bit harsh as Project Max Verstappen that was launched in 2015 as a 17-year-old and they had him in the top Red Bull car in just over a year, after a criticised decision to axe Daniil Kvyat, and they've had no reason to replace him since.

But even at least with Ferrari maybe Wolff is playing some 4D chess here, by putting them under pressure to promote Bearman to a race seat in 2028, which of course means replacing either Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc.

Either way, Wolff is clearly having fun with his first Mercedes drivers' title in 2020 by having a jab at rivals and critics, and who can blame him.

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