Red Bull Is Looking for the Next Kimi Antonelli: Raikkonen Jr. Is in Their Sights

Robin Raikkonen continues to shine on European kart tracks, with his mother, Minttu, often sharing updates on his performances. Last Sunday in Monza, his father Kimi showed up with his wife and son at the Red Bull garage, where he spoke at length with team principal Laurent Mekies. This could pave the way for Robin to join the Austrian team’s youth program.

However, he isn’t the only child following in a parent’s footsteps to take his first steps in the world of racing. Images of Toto Wolff—who believed in Kimi Antonelli’s talent from the very beginning—and his wife Susie Stoddart at the Cremona Circuit have also been making the rounds online. The couple watched their son Jack, who was competing in the Mini U10 karting category and locked in a duel with another young driver bearing a famous last name, Johan Berger.

Kimi Raikkonen’s presence in the Red Bull garage takes on even greater significance when considering the golden age Italian Formula 1 is currently experiencing. Just a few hours earlier at Monza, Kimi Antonelli had made history by winning the Italian Grand Prix after starting from nineteenth on the grid, becoming the first Italian to triumph in his home Grand Prix since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966. This victory further solidified his lead in the 2026 Drivers’ World Championship standings.

The topic of young talent and their integration into the programs of major teams has, after all, been at the center of debate in the paddock for some time. Antonelli himself—now 20 years old and dominating the championship—was rejected by Ferrari in 2018 when he was just 11 years old. Former Prancing Horse team principal Maurizio Arrivabene recently revisited the topic, citing Robin Raikkonen as an example of the difficulties teams would still face today in managing such young talents: “Even today, it wouldn’t be so easy to sign a talented 11-year-old like Kimi Raikkonen’s son, Robin.”

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies, with whom Kimi Raikkonen spoke at length in the Monza garage, is well acquainted with the dynamics involved in developing young drivers. The Milton Keynes-based team has had a complicated season, with Max Verstappen far from the top of the standings and caught up in an extremely uncertain contractual situation, which fueled rumors all summer long about a possible departure from Red Bull. In this context, the interest in recruiting new talent for its development program appears to be a long-term strategic move.