Kimi Antonelli leads the 2026 drivers’ championship in a Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton, sitting 59 points behind in his first year at Ferrari, thinks the 20-year-old Italian could one day join him at Maranello.
Asked at Monza whether Antonelli could follow him to Ferrari, Hamilton pointed straight at his old team principal.
“It’s a possibility, but there are many good drivers. I don’t think Wolff will let him go anytime soon,” Hamilton told reporters at Monza on Thursday.
Antonelli has drawn much the same line himself. Presented with the Bandini Trophy in Brisighella earlier this year, he called Ferrari “a great team, a brand that will always be part of history” and answered “never say never” when asked about a future switch.
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“But right now I’m happy at Mercedes, and my goal is to win as much as possible with them,” he added.
Antonelli starts from the back at Monza
Antonelli arrives at his home race as the drivers’ championship leader on 242 points, according to reporting on his Monza weekend.
Sunday’s race will not start from where his championship position would suggest. Antonelli will begin from the back of the grid after taking a fifth power unit, an automatic penalty under current F1 regulations.
Toto Wolff framed the decision as a title-race trade-off.
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“It’s disappointing for him and for the fans who want to see him fighting from the front in his home race, but our sport doesn’t reward sentiment,” the Mercedes team principal said.
“When you make decisions that benefit the championship campaign, sometimes you pay a short-term price.”
Ferrari brings an engine upgrade
Ferrari heads into Monza with a boost of its own. The team is running a second engine upgrade under the FIA’s Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities program, which allows teams judged more than 4% off Red Bull’s benchmark to bring a second upgrade this year. Ferrari’s first ADUO upgrade came at the Austrian Grand Prix in June.
Both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will run the new power unit. Hamilton, who took his maiden Ferrari victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in June, is talking up the car in front of the Tifosi.
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“It’s always exciting in Monza. It’s the fastest race we get to go to. Last year we didn’t have the car to fight. I think this year we have the car to fight,” he said.
The Italian Grand Prix runs on Sunday, 6 September at Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
