La Gazzetta dello Sport: Kimi Antonelli is champion because he doesn't drive for Ferrari
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Unsurprisingly, the front page of today's edition of Italy's leading sports daily, La Gazzetta dello Sport, was dedicated to Andrea Kimi Antonelli's Formula 1 triumph.
The Italian secured the 2026 World Championship with four races to spare after finishing third in the Mexico City Grand Prix. In doing so, he ended Italy's 73-year wait for a Formula 1 world champion, with Alberto Ascari in 1953 being the last to achieve the feat. Amid all the praise showered on the 20-year-old from Bologna, one sentence in fine print caught the attention of eagle-eyed readers.
"Kimi Antonelli is a Formula 1 world champion. Thanks to his talent, his car, and because he didn't drive for Ferrari," read the striking quote—a direct jab at the Prancing Horse.
The Maranello-based team last tasted Drivers' Championship glory back in 2007 with Kimi Räikkönen, before securing their most recent Constructors' crown in 2008. In the years that followed, Ferrari came close to championship success several times, only to fall short on every occasion. In Mexico, the team's total lack of cohesion was once again on display, as an opening-lap battle between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton effectively gifted victory at the Hermanos Rodríguez circuit to Max Verstappen.
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