Mercedes can't resist Ferrari joke after Kimi Antonelli photo goes viral

The two constructors are first and second in the Formula 1 standings and both in the midst of busy weekends off.

Mercedes are at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, while their Italian rivals have been in Madrid filming for September’s Spanish Grand Prix.

However, some of their staff were at work in West Sussex, and managed to sneak a quick snap with the man who’s quickly becoming one of the most famous people in Italy.

Kimi Antonelli drove for the Silver Arrows on Thursday, and among the thousands that wanted a picture with him, some of them were in red.

And his team couldn’t help but have some fun with the request. Posting a shot of the 19-year-old surrounded by staff in Ferrari gear, they captioned the image: “Always nice to meet some fans at Goodwood.”

Antonelli has quickly become one of Italy’s leading sporting figures alongside four-time tennis Grand Slam winner Jannik Sinner.

With their football team missing out on a third-straight World Cup, Antonelli is becoming the new poster boy, leading many of the ‘Tifosi’ to do the forbidden and a driver from a rival team.

There’s also been non-stop talk about Antonelli one day racing in red one day, and he had to respond at the start of June while speaking at the Bandini Trophy in Brisighella: "We're talking about a great team, a brand that will always be part of history. Never say never. But right now I'm happy at Mercedes, and my goal is to win as much as possible with them."

Despite the good nature of Mercedes’ Antonelli joke, tensions have been rising between the two teams, particularly over a recent dig from Silver Arrows CEO and team principal Toto Wolff. Speaking at the end of the Austrian Grand Prix, he said:

A week later at the British Grand Prix, Vassuer finally responded in the team principal press conference:

Wolff later said it wasn’t a joke, but was misunderstood when speaking to Sky: