Toto Wolff aims 'small team' dig at Ferrari and Red Bull over Antonelli win
Photo: Race Pictures
Henry Eccles is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs, and features across the F1 calendar. Since joining in 2026, he has produced high-volume reporting on the sport’s biggest stories, alongside feature pieces including analysis and historical content.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has suggested newly crowned F1 champion Kimi Antonelli would not have been afforded the same patience at Ferrari or Red Bull as he has received from the Silver Arrows. The Austrian pointed particularly to Ferrari's handling of Ollie Bearman, currently on loan at Haas.
Wolff has taken several opportunities to silence Antonelli's naysayers on his record-breaking run to become F1's youngest ever world champion. The Mercedes boss stuck by Antonelli during a rocky debut season in 2025, having replaced seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton at just 18 years old.
Parachuted in by the Silver Arrows, Antonelli still showed glimpses of promise throughout his rookie season, with a difficult European season - featuring only two points finishes in nine races - proving to be a turning point for the young Italian. In 2026, launched by a five-race winning run at the start of the year, Antonelli has been a cut above the rest under complicated new regulations.
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Wolff: Ferrari would have sent Antonelli to a 'small team'
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Photo: Race Pictures
Speaking to Italian outlet Corriere della Sera after Antonelli's title victory at the Mexico City GP, Wolff cast doubt on whether Ferrari or Red Bull would have given Antonelli the time to prosper in F1.
The Austrian made reference to Ferrari's loaning out of academy graduate Ollie Bearman to Haas, with fellow junior driver Rafa Camara set to join the Briton this weekend at the Sao Paulo GP. Red Bull, of course, have been known to be cutthroat with their drivers, despite also having sister team Racing Bulls on the F1 grid to develop talent.
“No one at Mercedes ever doubted Antonelli; we always supported him even when the results weren’t coming," Wolff said. “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.
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“Behind this is a nine-year journey between the team and his family: he had the best coaches, the best tools, Formula 1 testing, his career was entirely financed by us. We’re the only ones to do so,” Wolff added.
Wolff also shut down the idea that Ferrari let Antonelli "slip away" as a youngster, as it has been claimed in the past. Instead, the 54-year-old focused on the "system" put in place by Mercedes.
“It’s not that Ferrari or anyone else let him slip away, as I’ve heard. Behind it all is hard work and an extraordinary guy who has repaid the trust with results. This isn’t my victory, but the system’s,” Wolff concluded.
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