Kimi Antonelli avoided ‘unbelievable’ Ferrari pressure by joining Mercedes

Karun Chandhok believes the best thing Kimi Antonelli’s father, Marco Antonelli, did for him was to steer him towards Mercedes rather than Ferrari, taking unimaginable pressure off the Italian’s shoulders.

Antonelli entered Formula 1 last season as a Mercedes driver, with his fortunes ever-changing as he adjusted to Formula 1 and competing against the best in the world.

Karun Chandhok explains why Kimi Antonelli avoided Ferrari pressure

Although it was his teammate George Russell who entered this year’s championship as the pre-season favourite, Antonelli took a step closer to the world title with his seventh win of this season at the Italian Grand Prix.

Antonelli became the first Italian since 1966 to win the Italian Grand Prix when he stormed from 19th on the grid to first at Monza last Sunday.

The Italian fans, largely made up of Ferrari’s Tifosi, belted out the national anthem even as they displayed two enormous Ferrari flags.

He may not have been racing for Ferrari, and had in fact denied Ferrari a win three times this season, but Italy officially welcomed its newest hero.

Italy may yet celebrate its first world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953 as Antonelli leads the drivers’ standings by 66 points ahead of his teammate George Russell.

It’s a situation that Chandhok says may never have played out had Antonelli been signed by Ferrari instead of Mercedes in his youth.

“Looking back on that weekend,” the former HRT driver told Sky Sports’ F1 Show, “I actually think by not making him a Ferrari junior, not putting him in front of Ferrari, not trying to make him a Ferrari young driver, and going down the Mercedes path is actually the best thing that Marco Antonelli’s done for his son.

“It’s taken the pressure off in so many ways.

“Could you imagine if he was there as a Ferrari Italian driver? The pressure would be unbelievable.

“Mercedes have done a fantastic job of nurturing him and bringing him here.

“I saw Kimi’s parents and his sister afterwards by the Mercedes motorhome and they looked so delighted with the fact that obviously he’d won the home grand prix and they had a lot of their friends and family there.

“I couldn’t help but think they’ve managed to take away some pressure by not having him as a Ferrari driver.”

Chandhok, though, hopes that one day Antonelli will be racing in red.

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“For the sake of the sport and the sake of Ferrari,” he continued, “I hope in 10-15 years’ time, when Kimi’s achieved a whole lot of things, maybe he will become a Ferrari driver.

“It’ll be great for Ferrari to have him one day, but I think it’s good now for him to have his early years as not a Ferrari driver.”

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