After a week off, Formula 1 returns this weekend in Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix, the tenth event of the 2024 season. Ferrari will be looking to bounce back from the disappointing zero points they earned in Canada, where both cars retired after a disastrous qualifying session on Saturday.
The weekend in Catalonia will also offer other points of interest. For instance, there are rumors that it could be a crucial weekend for the driver market ahead of 2025, with possible announcements of Carlos Sainz to Williams and Kimi Antonelli to Mercedes. Regarding the young Italian driver, there might also be a few months of experience with the Grove team, replacing Logan Sargeant within the next few weeks.
Italian journalist and Ferrari insider Leo Turrini discussed these topics in his latest post on the “Profondo Rosso” blog on quotidiano.net. Here are some of his observations.
Leo Turrini’s thoughts on Antonelli-Mercedes and Ferrari
“It has been talked about for months, waiting for the official announcement: Toto Wolff, the Mercedes boss, is ready to hand the wheel of the Silver Arrow to Kimi Antonelli, the young Italian currently competing in F2 after winning everything in the lower categories,” begins Turrini. He then notes: “Mr. Wolff’s strategy is very clear: replicate the big move by Chris Horner and Helmut Marko, who in 2015 launched the underage Max Verstappen into F1 with Toro Rosso, later bringing him to Red Bull. Now the international federation has relaxed the limits introduced after the Dutchman’s case: it is no longer necessary to be eighteen to race in a Grand Prix.” – he explained.
According to the journalist, “the operation is fascinating, finding an Italian driver in F1 would be wonderful. But it’s a double-edged sword.” He explains this statement with a series of questions: “Has Toto Wolff lost Lewis Hamilton, the King of Kings, and replaced him with a rookie? And what if it doesn’t work out? What if the very talented Antonelli needs more time to grow? And what if there’s only one Verstappen?”
Questions that only time – or rather the track – can answer. “Who knows: we’ll see. For sure, Kimi has done well in tests with the old Mercedes cars and could even, as rumored for some time, start immediately, driving for Williams, a team closely linked to Toto Wolff. In any case, best of luck to the young man. I’ll be rooting for him. I’ve never had the fortune to cover an Italian F1 world champion,” writes Leo Turrini.
He concludes with a thought on Ferrari: “After the Le Mans euphoria, well, Ferrari in Grand Prix either shows up or it doesn’t. I think in Catalonia we will discover if Fred Vasseur is distinct and distant from Mattia Binotto. Let’s hope for the best.”
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