Enzo Ferrari's son wants champion Antonelli in red as Wolff hits back at Ferrari claims
· Yahoo Sports
Piero Ferrari, son of Scuderia founder Enzo Ferrari, says he wants to see Kimi Antonelli in Ferrari red. Days after Antonelli won the title with Mercedes, Luca di Montezemolo, Valentino Rossi and Ralf Schumacher have all said much the same as the young Italian remains an ambitious target for F1's most famous team.
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Antonelli finished third at the Mexican Grand Prix, which was enough to seal the championship to make him F1's youngest-ever champion and the first Italian to win the title since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
The next day, La Gazzetta dello Sport used its front page to have a dig at Maranello, saying Antonelli was champion "thanks to his talent, his car and not having raced for Ferrari." The line points back to Ferrari passing on Antonelli as a child. His father Marco has claimed that former team principal Maurizio Arrivabene turned his son down, and Antonelli joined the Mercedes junior programme at the age of 11.
Piero Ferrari sees Niki Lauda in Antonelli
Piero Ferrari owns 10 percent of the company. Speaking to Swiss outlet Blick, he made his feelings clear and compared the Mercedes driver to one of Ferrari's best-loved champions.
I want nothing more than to see Kimi in the red overalls. He reminds me of our Niki Lauda at every race!
Former Ferrari president Montezemolo struck a similar note. "I'm sorry I didn't see him behind the wheel of the Ferrari," he said. Rossi told Corriere della Sera he would like to see the move eventually, though not yet. "Let him win more World Championships, and then it would be great to see him at Ferrari," said the MotoGP legend, adding: "I'm talking about four or five world championships."
Ralf Schumacher says Wolff will have to let Antonelli go
Ralf Schumacher went further on Sky Deutschland. "It will happen eventually," said the brother of five-time Ferrari champion Michael. "I believe it's a must." He added a joke that the move would be all the more likely "if the Pope orders him into a Ferrari", and said he thinks the Mercedes boss will come round in the end: "At some point, I think he will also realise that he has to let him go."
Wolff has already rejected the idea that Ferrari simply missed a trick. As GPblog reported, the Mercedes boss questioned Ferrari's handling of its young drivers.
Ferrari's turmoil makes the contrast sharper
The calls for Antonelli come at an awkward time for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton started from pole in Mexico, but his first-lap clash with Charles Leclerc cost the team what looked like a one-two. Max Verstappen won the race. Afterwards, Fred Vasseur said the episode showed "a lack of respect for the brand", and Sky pundit Nico Rosberg said the team principal needs to take a firmer hand.
No driver has won the title in a Ferrari since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007. Antonelli himself is in no hurry and says the Ferrari talk leaves him cold for now, and he will race on next year with number 12, the number Ayrton Senna once used.