Ferrari CEO admits regret over Kimi Antonelli after world title win

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna has publicly acknowledged regret over the team’s decision to let Kimi Antonelli leave the Ferrari driver academy before the Italian rose to become Formula 1’s youngest-ever world champion.

Speaking in the wake of Antonelli’s title-clinching third-place finish at the Mexico City Grand Prix, Vigna’s comments mark a rare moment of candor from the top of Ferrari’s management.

The admission comes just days after Antonelli, now 20, secured the drivers’ championship with four races still remaining on the calendar.

Antonelli’s path to the title was anything but straightforward.

Born in Bologna, just a few miles from Imola, he grew up idolizing Ayrton Senna — the three-time world champion who died in a crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Antonelli has made it a tradition to visit Senna’s grave before the Brazilian Grand Prix, and this year he did so for the first time as a world champion.

“It was incredibly emotional; I’ll never forget that day,” Antonelli said after sitting in Senna’s Lotus during a visit arranged by the Senna family.

“I’m very grateful to the family. I would have loved never to get out of the Lotus.”

Antonelli is also running a special tribute helmet in Brazil, marking 35 years since Senna’s first title win in 1988.

“I think it’s one of my best helmets that I’ve made,” he said.

“So hopefully you guys, everyone, will like it. It’s going to be a very special weekend.”

Vigna’s regret is rooted in a decision that predates his tenure as CEO.

Antonelli was part of Ferrari’s driver academy but was released before he could progress through the team’s junior program.

The move was seen at the time as a routine roster decision — Ferrari had other prospects, and Antonelli was still a teenager.

But Antonelli’s rise has been meteoric.

After leaving the Ferrari system, he joined Mercedes’ junior program and quickly climbed the ladder.

This season, driving for Mercedes, he clinched the title at the Mexico City Grand Prix, becoming the youngest champion in F1 history.

The achievement has sparked intense debate in Italy, where Ferrari loyalists are grappling with the fact that an Italian driver won the championship in a non-Italian car.

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has weighed in, saying Ferrari’s loyalty to its current drivers may be “overshadowing” Antonelli’s historic title in Italy.

Steiner also claimed that some Italian fans still have “one problem” with Antonelli despite his success — namely, that he did it for Mercedes, not Ferrari.

Antonelli himself has shown no bitterness toward his former team.

He has spoken warmly of the respect shown by Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, who lifted him onto their shoulders after the title was decided in Mexico.

“It wasn’t planned; it was spontaneous, and that makes it even nicer,” Antonelli said.

“I’ve already had the photo framed.”

Looking ahead to 2027, Antonelli has confirmed he will keep the number 12 on his car rather than switch to the champion’s number 1.

“I think I’ll stay with number 12 because, obviously, it’s a very special number for me,” he explained.

“But also it’s a way for me to stay grounded, to stay humble, and I feel like by keeping number 12 it allows me to have a new point where to start and build on everything again and try to improve.

“And also, to be honest, I’m very superstitious, and number 1 has never been a good number for me. Whenever I put it, it went extremely badly.”

The number 12 is significant for another reason: it was the same number Senna used when he won his first title with McLaren in 1988.

Antonelli’s preparation for the 2027 season has already begun, even as the current season winds down.

“My 2027 prep starts now,” he said after the title win, signaling that he has no intention of resting on his laurels.