'Antonelli hit with multimillion lawsuit as former manager takes legal action'

According to Italian outlets including Corriere dello Sport, Giovanni Minardi believes he is entitled to compensation after managing Antonelli during his rise through the junior categories.

The dispute has reportedly been ongoing behind the scenes for around a year. Italian media reports state the case was filed in a court in Bologna after Antonelli ended the management agreement before making his Formula 1 debut. The lawsuit centres on whether Minardi is owed payment following the termination of that relationship.

"When the driver moved to Mercedes, the Antonelli team deemed the conditions no longer met to continue. This is where the dispute arose. There were opportunities to settle the matter out of court, but the offers made were deemed unacceptable by the former manager, who expressed his full availability. Unfortunately, no compromise was reached," Minardi's lawyer, Mattia Grassani said.

Neither Antonelli nor Mercedes, who lead both the drivers' and constructors' championships respectively, have commented on the legal proceedings.

Giovanni Minardi is the son of Giancarlo, the man who founded the Minardi team, which competed in Formula 1 between 1985 and 2005. The team was sold to Red Bull in 2005 and became the Torro Rosso team, now known as Racing Bulls.

In other F1 news, Toto Wolff has opened the door to Antonelli being partnered by Max Verstappen at Mercedes in the future.

Mercedes will continue with Antonelli and George Russell as its drivers for the 2027 Formula 1 season. At the time, it was claimed that the German team had exercised an option in Russell's contract. However, this website understands that this was incorrect, which explains why no official announcement followed. Such an announcement was never necessary, as Russell is already under a multi-year contract.

However, speaking to Sky Sports Germany, Wolff did not rule out the prospect of partnering Antonelli with Verstappen in the future.

He said: "You have to give Kimi time to develop. Max is driving at his peak. He can do everything. The two respect each other. They're from different generations. But having both of them in one team is, of course, a completely different starting point."

According to Wolff, it would not as tense as it was when Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were teammates at Mercedes. "But it's not like I'm afraid of it, I had it worse with Rosberg and Hamilton. I'd probably handle it better today. We're not afraid of having the two of them in the same team at some point."