Kimi Antonelli is dominating in F1, but there’s something about him that Toto Wolff doesn’t like
Kimi Antonelli is on a roll as he heads toward the Formula 1 world championship, the culmination of a season in which he has already set a long string of records. Yet there’s one aspect of the formidable Bolognese driver’s style that doesn’t sit well with his team principal, Toto Wolff, who—half-jokingly, half-seriously—wanted to highlight it, even referencing yet another Mercedes triumph at last Sunday’s Madrid Grand Prix.
“Every now and then he gives us gray hair, but that’s just how he is, and it suits him. We do, however, have to constantly remind him not to go outside the track limits with his car,” Toto Wolff admitted with a smile. “I was even talking about it with his father, Marco; we were joking that sometimes Kimi is a real idiot! Obviously, don’t write it down like that… Especially since these are precisely the traits that make him so fast; it happened in Madrid too, and we all had a good laugh about it. “But sometimes I have to get on the radio with him and ask if he can actually see out of the car or not.” So it’s a fairly minor issue, especially considering how many wins Antonelli is delivering for Mercedes in this historic 2026 season.
The numbers, after all, speak for themselves. With eight wins this season and 292 points in the standings, Antonelli leads the World Championship by 81 points over his teammate George Russell, while Lewis Hamilton trails by 101 points. The history is clear: no one in the history of Formula 1 has ever overcome such a deficit at this point in the season, and the title now seems to be just a matter of time.
If successful, Antonelli would go down in history as the youngest Formula 1 world champion ever, at just 20 years old. He would thus shatter the record held by Sebastian Vettel since 2010, when the German won the first of his four world titles at the age of 23 years and four months. Vettel himself commented very generously on this prospect: “Records are meant to be broken, and he still has several years ahead of him to break others. He’s having an incredible season, and I’d be very happy for him. I hope the others will also step up and fight for the top positions. As an outside observer, I’m happy for Kimi because I know how much work goes into achieving such results; whoever wins will have earned it.”
Antonelli’s achievements are making quite an impression even in his hometown. Bologna is preparing to honor him with an official award: Mayor Matteo Lepore has confirmed that the city is working on awarding him the Nettuno d’Oro, the civic honor reserved for those who raise the name of the Emilian capital high in the world. This distinction has in the past been awarded to legendary figures such as Alberto Tomba and Alex Zanardi, a testament to how much the city values its young champion. “I have to keep pushing race after race, trying to do my best; then we’ll see what the result is at the end of the year without thinking about the standings,” Antonelli himself said with his usual humility after his success in Madrid.
