Mercedes lost two sponsors in new Kimi Antonelli reveal

Kimi Antonelli to Mercedes was doubted to the extent of two sponsors walking away from the team.

That is the reveal made by team co-owner and principal Toto Wolff. All who kept the faith now reap those rewards, after Antonelli became the new and youngest Formula 1 world champion in history.

Kimi Antonelli decision cost Mercedes two sponsors

The young Italian saw his first realistic chance to secure the title arrive in Mexico. He made no mistake.

Knowing P9 would be good enough to seal the deal, Antonelli proceeded to make the podium at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, thus confirming his maiden title at 20 years of age in style.

It has been quite the rise for the youngster. After a rookie campaign which brought its challenges for Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton replacement, few had expected him to comprehensively defeat experienced teammate George Russell, as the Silver Arrows rediscovered the formula for a title-winning car.

It turns out this included a couple of sponsors at Mercedes. Those who stayed can now look at it as a masterstroke.

Reacting to Antonelli’s title win on Sky F1, Wolff said: “It’s incredible. We have to pinch ourselves because it seems like yesterday he was 11 years old in a garage in junior karting, and it goes so fast, and then he wins the junior formulas, then a difficult year in F2, and that’s already where people outside started to doubt.

“Then when Lewis told me, ‘I’m going to Ferrari,’ it was my immediate reaction that we’ve got to put him in a car.

“But people were doubting. You know, I was thinking before, we had two sponsors leaving us because of that, because of, ‘Who is this kid?’ There were others who stayed with us until today, some are here, they reaped the full reward.

“Then the difficult year, people said again, he shouldn’t even be in Formula 1, or he should be in a smaller team. Over nine races, no points. The tears in Spa. And then this. I’m just so proud for the team that all of them continued to trust him and he delivered.”

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Asked if he ever worried that he had made a knee jerk decision by naming Antonelli as Hamilton’s successor, Wolff added: “No. Lewis and I sat in my home, and he said that [he was going to Ferrari] and you have to accept that because it was also his decision.

“But it was instinctive. Lewis left. I called Bradley [Lord, Mercedes deputy team principal] and said, ‘Kimi is in the car next year.’ And we knew the data, so it kind of felt the right thing to do. I think it was always a calculated risk, not a real risk.”

Succeeding Sebastian Vettel as the new youngest F1 world champion of all-time, Antonelli returns to action this week at Interlagos for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

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