Kimi Antonelli looks to fend off Ferrari challenge and interest

Kimi Antonelli to Ferrari would be a dream scenario for the legendary Scuderia outfit, as it would make the 19-year-old the first Italian driver to race for the Italian team since Giancarlo Fisichella in 2009.

Those are the rumours and whispers doing the rounds at the paddock, with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff responding to it ahead of the Hungarian GP, before the Formula 1 bandwagon goes into a month-long summer break.

"We're aware," he said. "But Kimi has been a Mercedes driver since he was 11 – Ferrari should have done the job six or seven years ago."

But for now, the Prancing Horse are more than happy with how their two drivers – Charles Leclerc finished second in Belgium and Lewis Hamilton finished fourth – are giving pre-season favourites Mercedes a run for their money. The duo will be a threat at the slow, twisty and technical Hungaroring this weekend where Hamilton seeks to equal his own record – set at Silverstone – of nine wins at a single circuit.

While Antonelli heads to Budapest this weekend knowing he will lead the drivers' world championship into F1's summer break come what may, he also knows that despite the 45-point lead over Hamilton, he cannot afford to relax. A six-time winner this season, the Italian is 50 points ahead of his suffering teammate George Russell who retired in Belgium last Sunday.

Wolff promised an "arm around his shoulder" and, perhaps more usefully, insisted that the team would not switch their focus to one driver in pursuit of the title.

"We've shown at every race so far that the performance is there," he said. "But we haven't converted enough of that potential into results... We've lost points through self-inflicted issues and we know we need to improve."

He added that he did not want to see the drivers losing "time with each other.”

“We don't want any yo-yoing and then to have a Ferrari or a Red Bull breathing down our necks and lose a victory," he said.

This, he explained, meant Mercedes would "never take a victory away" from either driver regardless of it being "Kimi or George who was ahead."

Antonelli’s remarkable performance has endorsed the impression that he has mastered the new hybrid era with its AI-controlled engine and power management. An aggressive driving style has enabled him to make the best of the 50-50 battery and engine power packages, and critically a need to manage electronic recharging and power deployment.

Recent form suggests McLaren may challenge for another win via their drivers Oscar Piastri, who finished fifth in Belgium and Lando Norris, who finished seventh and with Red Bull in close pursuit, four-time champion Max Verstappen having finished a strong third at Spa-Francorchamps, but it is still hard to see beyond Mercedes and Ferrari vying for victory this Sunday.