Wolff: 'Loyal' Antonelli will not desert Mercedes for Ferrari
· Yahoo Sports
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is "0.0%" concerned that Italy's Formula One world champion Kimi Antonelli could one day switch to Italian glamour team Ferrari.
"Because Kimi and his family are loyal people," the 54-year-old told Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday.
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Antonelli clinched this season's title with four races left at the age of 20 years and 68 days old, making him the youngest champion in motorsport's top global series. He is the first Italian champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
German works team Mercedes also won the constructors' world championship in Brazil last weekend, a week after Antonelli wrapped up the drivers' crown in Mexico and expressed his love for the Silver Arrows.
"That is why he also said after winning the title that he cannot imagine at all driving for any team other than Mercedes," Wolff said.
Asked whether the young Italian was becoming more popular in his home country than seven-times champion Michael Schumacher had been during his Ferrari days, Wolff replied: "Definitely. He is Italian, after all."
Germany's Schumacher had won five of his seven titles with the Scuderia.
Wolff recalled how Ferrari fans had celebrated Antonelli after his win on home tarmac in Monza this year.
"The Tifosi now wear the Ferrari shirt with a Mercedes cap," he mused.