SOCIAL MEDIA: ITALIAN SPORTS NEWSPAPER TAKES SWIPE AT FERRARI AS ANTONELLI CLAIMS TITLE

Andrea Kimi Antonelli wrapped up the 2026 Formula 1 world championship in Mexico, and Italy's most prominent sports daily used the occasion to twist the knife into Ferrari. La Gazzetta dello Sport's front page credited Antonelli's title to "his talent, the car and the fact that he isn't racing for Ferrari" — a brutal line aimed at Maranello's nineteen-year title drought. No Ferrari driver has won the championship since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.

The sting carries weight. Antonelli's father claims former Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene passed on signing his son years ago. Mercedes scooped him up at eleven, and he just delivered the Silver Arrows their eighth drivers' title since 2014. Ferrari, meanwhile, has cycled through strategies, personnel, and excuses without breaking through.

For Mercedes, the Antonelli era begins with vindication. For Ferrari, the wait stretches into a third decade, and even the hometown press has run out of patience.