Why signing for Ferrari would have ‘destroyed’ Kimi Antonelli
uca di Montezemolo was torn as he watched Kimi Antonelli win the Chinese Grand Prix.
Luca di Montezemolo admitted to mixed emotions as he watched Kimi Antonelli win in China — thrilled by the Italian’s brilliance, but frustrated it came in Mercedes silver, not Ferrari red.
Ferrari, though, wasn’t an option for Antonelli as the pressure of carrying the Tifosi’s expectations would’ve “destroyed” him.
Luca di Montezemolo on Ferrari passing on Kimi Antonelli
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust
Antonelli’s talent was evident during his karting days in Italy, leading to a rapid ascent through the single-seater junior ranks.
Ferrari reportedly had the opportunity to sign Antonelli as a young driver but ultimately decided against it.
Giovanni Minardi, the son of the founder of the Minardi F1 team and the owner of Minardi Management, told Gazzetta dello Sport, “For Ferrari, Kimi was still too young, whereas Mercedes could offer better guarantees regarding his future prospects.”
In fact, such was Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff’s belief in the teenage Italian that he promoted Antonelli after one year in Formula 2 to the Mercedes F1 team.
It was a gamble that paid dividends at the Chinese Grand Prix where Antonelli became Formula 1’s youngest-ever pole-sitter and followed that up a day later with a first grand prix victory.
Go deeper: PF1 analysis of the Chinese GP
Chinese GP conclusions: Verstappen sabbatical fear, mixed Hamilton feelings, McLaren Powertrains
Chinese GP driver ratings: Antonelli shines, Hamilton impresses and Ocon falters
Former Ferrari chairman di Montezemolo celebrated Antonelli’s victory as an Italian, but rued that it was a Mercedes driver.
“His victory excited me,” the 78-year-old told Corriere della Sera.
“He is a 19-year-old boy who is constantly improving. He had had problems in the starts, yet he did not lose heart. He went to the front and led without uncertainty, risking only at the end.
“He showed maturity and coolness, not typical of an Italian, and especially not of one of his age. He has his feet on the ground, I hope he will always stay like this, the premises are all there.
“But it bothered me a bit to see him in a Mercedes.”
Di Montezemolo was asked why Ferrari didn’t take the opportunity to put one of Italy’s sons in the car.
The Italian is adamant that signing Antonelli to Ferrari would have destroyed him; such is the pressure of racing in red, never mind racing in red as an Italian driver.
That pressure would’ve caused further issues with conspiracies of favouritism if Antonelli had struggled.
“Today the conditions are different from years ago,” he explained, “you don’t just look at the results in karting but at the numbers in the simulators, the drivers are trained there. It’s easier to choose very young people.
“The only one who impressed me at the time was Verstappen. At 12 he was the strongest of all, but he was “busy”, I talked about it with Helmut Marko.
“But taking someone like Antonelli and putting him in Ferrari immediately would have meant destroying him.
“He would have had a gigantic pressure. I remember the times of [Niki] Lauda and [Clay] Regazzoni, they wrote that we gave Niki the best car and it wasn’t true.”
Di Montezemolo revealed he phoned to congratulate the driver after his Shanghai victory, with his only advice to Antonelli to keep improving as today he’s doing well but in the best car on the grid.
“I met him last year in Bahrain, I knew his dad by name because of his racing activities,” he said. “I called him to congratulate him.
“A cute and shy boy. He is lucky enough to have a solid family, he knows values.
“I would suggest him to continue improving, because, with all due respect, he was perfect on a clearly superior car. I’ve seen several drivers who thought they were phenomenal after a few GPs.
“But Kimi is different and Mercedes has done a great job. Last year he made his F1 debut in a non-winning car, without the pressure of now.”
Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.
You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!
Read next: Lewis Hamilton ‘no regret’ claim as David Coulthard ponder Mercedes-Ferrari doubts
