Latest news with #Ferrari-bound
Daily Tribune
11-04-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Tribune
When Kimi met Kimi: Antonelli's first meeting with F1's ‘Iceman'
Mercedes' Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli spoke yesterday about his encounter with the man whose name he shares - Kimi Raikkonen. Antonelli's first name is Andrea, after his uncle, and his parents when searching for a middle name came up with the first name of Ferrari's 2007 world champion. The 18-year-old from Bologna is universally known as Kimi, and recalled meeting the now retired Finn. 'I met him when I was quite little, maybe 2018?' said Antonelli who has made a bright start to life at Mercedes in the car vacated by Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton. 'The first time I met him I understood why they called him the 'Iceman' - I was super excited and he had no reaction!' the rookie recalled ahead of Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix. 'I didn't have the chance for a proper chat with him, but I would like to. 'It would be cool to ask him about racing as he has done a lot in the sport. Definitely one for the future!' added the Italian. While Raikkonen stands third on the all-time list of Grand Prix starts with 349, Antonelli goes in to just his fourth race in a remarkable fifth place with 30 points - double the tally of the seven-time world champion he replaced at the Silver Arrows. Looking ahead to Sunday's race under floodlights he said: 'The speed is there. Keep positive trend, keep working hard and then we'll see what the results are on Sunday.' The rookie, who only passed his driving test in January, entered F1's record books last weekend when he became the youngest driver to lead a race, breaking a record held by Max Verstappen from back in 2016, in Japan. He also became the youngest driver to claim a fastest lap. Yet to finish outside the top 10, he is leading the way for the six full-time rookies on the 2025 grid. The only cloud on his horizon is revising for school exams which his mother insists he has to finish. George Russell, who has seamlessly stepped into the role as team leader at Mercedes on the departure of Hamilton, has also enjoyed a buoyant beginning to 2025 and is fourth in the drivers' standings, 17 points behind McLaren's leader Lando Norris.
The Independent
06-03-2025
- Automotive
- The Independent
Toto Wolff makes shock Max Verstappen F1 revelation after breaking ‘promise' to Lewis Hamilton
Toto Wolff promised Lewis Hamilton he wouldn't pursue a move for Max Verstappen while the Brit was at Mercedes, as revealed in the new season of Drive to Survive. The Mercedes team principal, who worked with Hamilton for 12 years, spent the first half of the 2024 season looking for a replacement for the Ferrari-bound driver. Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso were among the contenders, with Wolff eventually opting to promote teenage prodigy Kimi Antonelli to partner George Russell this year. Yet Wolff made no secret of his desire to sign Hamilton's 2021 foe Verstappen – especially amid unrest at Red Bull at the start of last season – and details as such in season seven of Drive to Survive, released on Friday. "So Carlos [Sainz] is somebody to look at, he's had some really good performances," Wolff says, in conversation with wife Susie. "Fernando [Alonso], I mean, race pace, racecraft is still very good. Susie replies: "You're not going to be starting a new era with a long contract with Fernando, it's an interim. "You don't think Max is an option?" Wolff then responds: "I think he is. But, if you win all the races in a season, I think he is. "I haven't spoken to him because I promised Lewis I wouldn't talk to him but I will have the conversation now." Verstappen has a contract with Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season but has also been linked with a move to Aston Martin ahead of new regulations coming into force next year. The 2025 F1 season starts with the Australian GP on 16 March, while season seven of Drive to Survive is released on Netflix on Friday.
The Independent
05-03-2025
- Automotive
- The Independent
Ferrari's British teen and the next Max Verstappen? Meet the six full-time rookies on the 2025 F1 grid
What a difference 12 months can make. Prior to the 2024 season, for the first time in F1 history, not one team changed their driver line-up in the off-season. It gave the look of a sport in stagnation, particularly amid Max Verstappen's hyper-dominance, with fresh blood and intrigue nowhere to be seen. Where was the next generation? Well, they were actually just a year behind. This year sees six full-time rookies (classed as rookies, despite three having race starts to their name, given their first full-time seat in F1) enter the fray, with eight teams in total changing their driver line-up. So ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on 16 March, who are the rookies who have been thrown into the limelight at the top-tier of world motorsport? It was the big question emanating throughout the majority of last year – who would be capable of replacing seven-time world champion and Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes? Carlos Sainz? No. Fernando Alonso? No. Instead, Toto Wolff has turned to Mercedes's hottest academy product, with a staggeringly impressive junior resume. Antonelli – who ironically hails from Bologna, close to Ferrari's Maranello HQ – joined Mercedes's junior programme at the age of 11 and quickly rose to prominence as he steamrolled to success in karting and junior single-seaters. He won the European Karting Championship in 2020 and 2021, Italian F4 in 2022 and Formula Regional championships in Europe and the Middle-East in 2023. As such, he skipped F3 to race in F2 last year for Prema, finishing an impressive sixth for a team whose car did not meet the heights expected. As last year developed, it soon became clear that Antonelli was the man (or should I say, teenager) Wolff had plumped for. There was an initial setback: a day before his promotion was confirmed, Antonelli crashed in his first F1 practice session at Monza, spinning into the wall at Tamburello corner. At 18, he is raw. But his natural speed is frightening. Wolff has had Antonelli earmarked as his own version of Max Verstappen for some time. Should the Italian secure a shock victory in the first three races this year, Antonelli will break the Dutchman's record for the youngest driver to win an F1 race. Over the course of a season, can he challenge George Russell? We'll soon find out. Liam Lawson (Red Bull) Lawson has featured in 11 F1 races so far (five in 2023, six in 2024) but the first foray was as a stand-in, while the second was an audition for the mothership. In what has been an incredible ascension, the Kiwi will now partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2025, taking his place in the hardest seat in F1. The 23-year-old has impressed with his on-track speed and attitude, despite less than a dozen starts. Singapore in 2023 was when people first took note, where he navigated the most humid race of the season to finish ninth. He replicated that result in Austin a year later, before wagging his middle finger to Sergio Perez during a contentious moment in Mexico a week later. Lawson has fire in his belly. Christian Horner has praised his 'versatility and racecraft' – he'll need both attributes to be firing to challenge Verstappen on a regular basis. For Lawson himself, he described the call-up as a 'lifelong dream'. But Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon will tell you that a Red Bull dream can quickly turn into a disaster. Their skillset was not in doubt. But their experience was lacking. It is a massive opportunity, but Lawson needs to hit the ground running. Ollie Bearman (Haas) The rookie story of 2024, Bearman will drive for American-owned, Ferrari-powered Haas this year as a result, largely, of a memorable F1 debut in Saudi Arabia last March. Stepping in for the ill Carlos Sainz, Bearman qualified a respectable 11th and finished seventh – ahead of Hamilton and Lando Norris – at one of the most feared street circuits on the calendar in Jeddah. From that moment, a spot on the 20-man grid seemed inevitable. His 2025 spot was confirmed at Silverstone, and another stand-in moment in Azerbaijan for Haas brought another top-10 finish, showing that Bearman (raised in Chelmsford, Essex) is ready for his F1 promotion at 19. He has a two-year contract at Haas, racing alongside experienced race winner Esteban Ocon in what should be a fascinating intra-team battle this year. And if he continues to shine, a spot at Ferrari (perhaps replacing Hamilton) is not out of the question in the future, given his Ferrari links. Jack Doohan (Alpine) The son of five-time motorcycle world champion Mick, Jack Doohan has waited patiently for his chance at Alpine. He has now got it, but will already be feeling the heat. Doohan will compete in his home race in Melbourne with reserve driver Franco Colapinto – signed from Williams in the off-season – breathing down his neck for his seat. It is hardly ideal circumstances for the 22-year-old, who has dealt with it admirably so far. A third-place finish in F2 in 2023 shows his potential, but Doohan can ill-afford an acclimatisation period. Whether he can stave off Colapinto taking his spot will be one of the early season stories to keep an eye on. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) Nicknamed 'le petit Prost' in French media, Hadjar has been handed his F1 opportunity at Red Bull's sister team at the age of 20. The Frenchman has a one-year contract and Red Bull's history – aside from Perez – shows patience is rarely afforded to their drivers, no matter the age. He impressed with his F2 runner-up spot last year, despite a nightmare start-line stall with the title on the line at the final race in Abu Dhabi. Can Hadjar compete with Yuki Tsunoda, who is heading into his fifth season? It remains to be seen whether RB's car will be competitive enough to challenge for the points. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) What a rise for the 20-year-old Brazilian. Bortoleto was heading into his rookie F2 season in 2024 off the back of an F3 title win, and shocked onlookers as he claimed the title with a string of consistent performances, becoming just the second driver to win F3 and then F2 as a rookie. The other one goes by the name of Oscar Piastri. It forced Mattia Binotto's hand at Sauber, soon-to-be Audi. He swooped for Bortoleto – previously a member of McLaren's academy – to complete his driver line-up this year alongside Nico Hulkenberg. One for the future, Bortoleto may well be forced to compete at the back of the pack this year.
New York Times
30-01-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Max Verstappen's Red Bull future nears a crossroads with changes ahead on and off the track
Max Verstappen is preparing for one of the biggest years of his life. The reigning four-time world champion has his sights set on a fifth straight title, a feat only Michael Schumacher has accomplished, which would cement his place among the all-time greats. Barring a big performance step by Red Bull this winter, the Dutchman faces the most serious challenge to his crown yet, as the inroads made in the second half of last year by McLaren and Ferrari are expected to continue. Advertisement Off the track, there are changes, too, as Verstappen and his long-term partner Kelly Piquet are expecting their first child together, so it's only natural for him to be thinking about the future. Though only 27, Verstappen has previously said he is closer to the end of his career than the beginning. He is under contract with Red Bull until 2028, having signed one of the most lucrative contracts in the sport's history just over three years ago. But with so much change on the horizon, this year could represent a crossroads. Sixty-three wins, 40 pole positions, 112 podiums and four world championships put Verstappen and Red Bull among the most successful driver-team partnerships in F1 history. Ever since Red Bull gambled on Verstappen's youth, placing him in F1 with its sister team, Toro Rosso, at 17 in 2015 before promoting him to its senior team just a year later, both sides have reaped the rewards. Rarely has Verstappen shown any serious signs of disgruntlement or frustration at Red Bull. The only public hint he could look to leave came early last season when Red Bull team advisor Helmut Marko faced scrutiny over his potential role in the leaks surrounding the investigation into team principal Christian Horner. Verstappen said he could not continue at the team without Marko, whose future was resolved quickly after meeting with Red Bull GmbH managing director Oliver Mintzlaff. Verstappen kept saying he wanted a peaceful environment in which to race. By the end of the season, that's what he had. The fraught start to Red Bull's year caused Verstappen to be linked with a move to Mercedes, which needed a driver to replace the Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has always admired Verstappen and regularly hinted at an interest in signing him across last year — and even spoke with Verstappen's father and manager in the summer — prior to confirmation that Andrea Kimi Antonelli would join alongside George Russell. Following the announcement, Wolff said he saw the duo as representing Mercedes' future. GO DEEPER On top of the F1 world, would Max Verstappen really leave Red Bull for Mercedes? Speaking to journalists in December to reflect on the year, Horner said that, 'at no point did I have any concerns that (Verstappen) wanted to leave.' While he understood why there'd be interest, Horner noted the public nature of what he described as 'noise' around Verstappen's future. 'The serious stuff is usually done behind the scenes,' he said, 'not through the media.' The shocking nature of Hamilton's Ferrari move last February acts as recent proof of that. Advertisement Horner's theory would have been front of mind in mid-January when the Daily Mail reported Aston Martin's commercial chief had told prospective sponsors about the team's plan to sign Verstappen with a dizzying $1 billion price tag featured in the story. Aston Martin categorically denied the report when reached by The Athletic. Aston Martin has always been ambitious about becoming a world champion operation under Lawrence Stroll. The team has a new state-of-the-art factory at Silverstone. In March, it will welcome Adrian Newey, Red Bull's outgoing chief technical officer and the most decorated car designer in F1 history. It will also secure an exclusive engine supply from Honda, which has powered Verstappen to all his F1 titles at Red Bull, starting in 2026. All these factors could prove attractive to any driver looking to move, not to mention the financial might behind the project. But the Aston Martin project is still a work in progress. In early 2023, Fernando Alonso emerged as the closest contender to Verstappen and Red Bull, regularly finishing on the podium. The team's form has since faded. It failed to finish a race any higher than fifth last year and has undergone an off-track reshuffle this winter, with team CEO Andy Cowell now assuming the role of team principal. The building blocks may be coming together for Aston Martin, but it still looks to be a couple of steps off disrupting F1's established 'big four' of Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren. Verstappen's priority is to drive a winning car. He had to bide his time waiting for Red Bull to get in a position to fight for the title, so dominant was Mercedes through the late 2010s, but he hasn't lost a championship since getting the machinery capable of winning one in 2021. This year's competition will be intense, but he proved last year that even without the quickest car for the bulk of the season, he is very hard to beat. Next year could define what the final years of Verstappen's existing Red Bull contract could look like. The new car design and engine rules promise to shake up the pecking order and give the potential for one team to pull clear and dominate, similar to Mercedes in 2014 or Red Bull in 2022 and 2023. The added significance of 2026 for Red Bull is that its in-house engine program, Red Bull Powertrains, which works in collaboration with Ford, will become the official power unit supplier to the team. Advertisement Red Bull knows the upside of forming its own engine division. For the first time, it will be in total control of its destiny and not reliant on the performance of a customer engine. Its previous partnership with Renault turned sour when the French manufacturer failed to produce a competitive power unit, leaving Red Bull powerless to contend with Mercedes and Ferrari regularly. But even with the impressive facility under construction in Milton Keynes, going from a start-up operation to an engine manufacturer capable of contending with F1's established names in under four years is a big ask. Red Bull itself will reap the rewards — or pay the price — for its level of performance in 2026. 'For us bringing in our own power units, there are huge risks associated with that,' Horner said. 'But there's also upsides between the integration between the two worlds. We're the only team other than Ferrari to have everything on one campus, under one roof, and we're already seeing the synergy between engine engineers and designers and chassis designers.' While power unit performance has more or less evened out in F1, there is an expectation for some large swings at the start of the new rule cycle in 2026 that could be the most significant performance differentiator. It'll only make it more important for Red Bull and Ford's new project to get off to a strong start, particularly to ensure Verstappen has the car he needs to keep fighting for wins and championships. Few, if any, of F1's all-time greats have enjoyed all their success with a single team. Schumacher wrote the bulk of his legacy with Ferrari, but his first two titles came with Benetton in the mid-1990s. Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna both had spells at multiple teams, while Hamilton is now embarking on his third team adventure, having joined Ferrari in 2025. Arguably, the only great to do it all with a single team was Jim Clark, whose race starts were all with Lotus in the 1960s. It would make Verstappen something of an outlier if he were to spend the entirety of his F1 career within the Red Bull family. Most greats look to move on and prove themselves elsewhere. But given that Verstappen has little care for statistics or records, it's unlikely this kind of romanticism would appeal to him in the way it does to other drivers. He's never seemed like one to harbor dreams of racing for a particular team, as Hamilton did with Ferrari, so for him to see out his career at Red Bull would come as no great surprise. That mindset is also why he does not want to be racing forever. Celebrating his 200th race at Zandvoort last year, Verstappen scoffed at the idea of being around for another 200. 'We're past halfway (in my career), for sure,' he said, adding that his future beyond 2028 was not on his mind. 'I just want to see how it goes, also see the new regulations first, if it's fun or not,' Verstappen said. The level of enjoyment Verstappen gets from the new cars arriving in 2026, of which he's previously cast doubt on how they will drive, will be instrumental to how much longer he wants to race in F1. The moment he stops having fun, he'll hit pause. It is also why the officiating of F1, namely the controversy surrounding swearing that Verstappen's relatively innocent F-bomb in Singapore sparked last September, could influence his future. The debate is unlikely to go away after the FIA, the sport's governing body, announced new guidelines for penalizing so-called 'misconduct' with fines, point deductions and even race bans. Advertisement That's not to say racing won't be part of Verstappen's life whenever he decides to stop. He's long dreamed of entering the 24 Hours of Le Mans with his father, Jos, and regularly spends weekends driving GT sportscars just for fun. His horizons reach beyond F1. 'He's very old-school in many respects: he just wants to drive,' Horner said. 'I think some of the noise and the circus around Formula One is what doesn't sit comfortably with him. So long as he's getting the enjoyment out of what he does, he'll do it. 'But I think as soon as that enjoyment drops, he's got the strength of character and personality to say, 'Do you know what? I'm going to go and drive GTs next year.' He's unique in the sense that Formula One doesn't define him.' There's a big, big world beyond F1. Verstappen understands the sacrifices needed to compete for wins in F1, and that may become more acute once he becomes a father. He will be one of only two fathers on the grid, along with Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg, who spoke to The Athletic about how fatherhood changes one's outlook on racing. But so long as he remains capable of fighting for championships, the motivation will remain as strong as ever. As he put it after scoring win number 19 out of 22 races in 2023, the championship long since a foregone conclusion: 'Winning is great. Why would I not want to win when you have the opportunity to win?' As long as Red Bull can keep giving Verstappen a happy environment, a winning car and the means to enjoy the sport, there's little reason to think he might look elsewhere. GO DEEPER Why being Max Verstappen's teammate is the hardest job in Formula One Top photo:
