Andrea Kimi Antonelli racing for Ferrari would be a “really beautiful” story, according to Formula 1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali.

This therefore is a future Italian team and driver pairing which the F1 chief would love to see, though it will not be music to the ears of Lewis Hamilton after his challenging start to Ferrari life, or to Toto Wolff, Antonelli’s team boss at Mercedes.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli: Future Ferrari driver?

Mercedes took a gamble by promoting their teenage sensation Kimi Antonelli from Formula 2 to replace Lewis Hamilton, who realised a childhood dream by signing with Ferrari from F1 2025.

And the 18-year-old Italian Antonelli has made an impressive start to F1 life with Mercedes, scoring 30 points across the opening four grands prix and holding his own against experienced team-mate George Russell, three times a grand prix winner.

Hamilton meanwhile has had a mixed start to his Ferrari career. His Sprint pole and victory in China was an impressive highlight, but he is yet to finish ahead of Charles Leclerc in a grand prix, while the recent return of his qualifying woes from last season have only increased the pressure on the 40-year-old.

Antonelli is not currently contracted at Mercedes beyond F1 2025, so could his home team Ferrari be his next destination?

“Kimi Antonelli in Ferrari? An Italian driver in an Italian car. We need a driver who, especially in today’s world, represents a reference figure for young people,” former Ferrari team principal turned F1 boss Stefano Domenicali said on Italian radio show ‘La Politica nel pallone’.

“So it would be really beautiful.”

That being said, Domenicali is quite sure that Mercedes’ F1 boss – after all that investment and faith placed into Antonelli – will definitely not want to see such a move happen.

“But I believe that Toto Wolff might not agree at this moment!” Domenicali pointed out.

Explaining that Antonelli is an “extraordinary young man” who displays “values that I really like”, Domenicali added: “Before equating him to any champion, I think it’s right to wait, but the certainty is that he will become a protagonist in our world.”

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Antonelli has also made a positive impression on former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo.

He believes Ferrari could have been the team to bring Antonelli into Formula 1, initially assigning him to engine customer team Sauber (to become Audi from F1 2026).

That approach worked well for Leclerc, who spent his first Formula 1 season with Sauber in 2018 before stepping up to Ferrari.

“Antonelli is a first-rate driver, first of all because he’s in his first year of F1 and he doesn’t make mistakes, but he’s fast and I see him growing,” di Montezemolo told Sky Italia. “And then he’s from Bologna, like myself.

“I’m just sorry to see him in Mercedes. Would I have taken him? At 18 maybe not, but I would have put him at Sauber to do two years there.”

Leclerc and Hamilton are both contracted to Ferrari under multi-year deals.

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