Piero Ferrari Wants Kimi Antonelli in Ferrari Red After 2026 F1 Title

Kimi Antonelli’s 2026 title has brought an Italian driver back to the top of Formula 1 for the first time since Alberto Ascari’s 1953 championship. For Piero Ferrari, the achievement also brings a familiar comparison: he says the 20-year-old Mercedes driver reminds him of Niki Lauda, and that he wants to see Antonelli race in Ferrari red one day.

“I want nothing more than to see Kimi in the red overalls,” Ferrari told Blick. “He reminds me of our Niki Lauda at every race!”

That wish is an expression of admiration, not a sign of a move. Antonelli is a Mercedes driver, and the source gives no indication that he is set to leave. The immediate story is what he has achieved with the team that backed him: a championship in his second Formula 1 season, at an age when most drivers are still building experience.

A title settled with four races left

Third place at the Mexico City Grand Prix was enough for Antonelli to secure the 2026 drivers’ title with four rounds remaining. He left the race with a 119-point lead. The podium was his 16th in 19 Grands Prix, a run of results that helps explain why the championship was settled so early.

Antonelli is now the youngest driver to win the title, breaking Sebastian Vettel’s previous record by more than three years. He’s also the third Italian champion, following Giuseppe Farina, who won the inaugural title with Alfa Romeo in 1950, and Ascari, who took consecutive championships with Ferrari in 1952 and 1953.

Antonelli’s title adds a rare milestone to his fast start in Formula 1, but the points margin and podium frequency make the season’s shape just as striking. His Mexico City result didn’t require a race win. Consistent finishes across the calendar had created enough separation to clinch the title even with four Grands Prix still to come.

Why Ferrari sees a Lauda connection

Piero Ferrari, son of Scuderia founder Enzo Ferrari and a 10% shareholder in the company, has made this comparison before. He has pointed to Antonelli’s maturity on track as one reason the young driver’s rise stands out. The Lauda parallel also has a clear career detail behind it: Lauda won his first title in 1975, his second season with Ferrari, after moving to the team from March and BRM.

Lauda went on to win another championship with Ferrari in 1977. He was the sixth driver to take the title for the Scuderia. Ferrari has had nine championship-winning drivers in total; Kimi Raikkonen remains its most recent, having won in 2007. That history gives Piero Ferrari’s hope a particular resonance, though it says nothing about Antonelli’s future plans or Ferrari’s driver line-up.

Piero Ferrari has previously praised Antonelli’s early maturity, while describing the speed of his success as surprising. Such comparisons can be useful shorthand for a driver’s qualities, but they don’t make two careers identical. Lauda’s route to his first championship included spells at other teams; Antonelli has reached the title in his second season, after joining Mercedes as a teenager.

Mercedes’ bet has paid off

Mercedes put Antonelli into Formula 1 in 2025 to fill the seat left by Lewis Hamilton, who moved to Ferrari to partner Charles Leclerc. Antonelli was 18 when he made his debut. A year later, he has become the youngest champion in the sport’s history. For team boss Toto Wolff, the decision to entrust a rookie with that seat has delivered a championship much sooner than the usual gradual climb through the field.

The 2026 standings also show how much the title fight has shifted. George Russell, Antonelli’s teammate, is outside the top three. Max Verstappen’s Mexico City win moved him to second on 261 points, two ahead of Hamilton on 259; Russell has 250. Four races remain in Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, leaving a separate battle for the places behind the champion.

Verstappen and Russell have each recorded three wins this season. Verstappen’s three have come in Red Bull’s debut RBPT engine, while Antonelli has taken nine victories in the Mercedes W17. That gap in wins underlines the scale of the Mercedes driver’s season, even as Verstappen’s Mexico City victory and Hamilton’s second place reshaped the standings behind him.

The next question is whether Antonelli can sustain this level as a champion, with rivals still fighting over the remaining positions. Piero Ferrari has made his preference plain: he would like to see the young Italian in Ferrari red. For now, Antonelli’s title belongs to Mercedes, and his record-setting season gives the team a clear benchmark for what comes next.