Toto Wolff has revealed that two sponsors left Mercedes after the team signed Kimi Antonelli, the youngest ever Formula 1 world champion. The 20-year-old won the title at the Mexico City Grand Prix and is the first Italian champion in 73 years.

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The Brackley-based team faced immediate commercial fallout, with the two sponsors severing ties over doubts about Antonelli’s readiness for F1.

A record-breaking title

Antonelli clinched the title at just 20 years old, eclipsing Sebastian Vettel’s previous youngest champion mark by more than three years. Like Jacques Villeneuve and Lewis Hamilton, he secured the crown in only his second season.

This rise was met with skepticism from key partners, Wolff revealed in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports F1.

Sponsors doubted the decision

“We had to pinch ourselves because it seems like yesterday he was 11 years old in a garage in junior karting and it goes so fast,” Wolff reflected. “He wins the junior formulas, then a difficult year in F2 and that’s already where people outside started to doubt.”

The doubters intensified when Hamilton announced his switch to Ferrari, prompting Wolff to act. “When Lewis told me he was going to Ferrari, it was my immediate reaction that we’ve got to put him in the car. But people doubted. We had two sponsors leaving us because of that, because of ‘who is this kid?’”

Wolff emphasized that many sponsors remained loyal and ultimately reaped the rewards of Antonelli’s breakthrough success. The young driver’s debut F1 season was fraught with challenges, including a string of zero-point finishes over nine European races and emotional struggles at Spa.

“People said again, he shouldn’t even be in Formula 1, or he should be at a smaller team,” Wolff said. “I’m just so proud for the team that all of them continue to trust him and he delivered.”

“A calculated risk”

Wolff dismissed concerns about the risk involved in promoting Antonelli to Mercedes’ factory team, framing it instead as a “calculated risk.”

“It was instinctive. Lewis left. I called Bradley [Lord, deputy team principal] and said, ‘Kimi is in the car next year,’” Wolff explained. “We knew the data, so it kind of felt like the right thing to do. I think it was always a calculated risk, not a real risk.”

The revelation highlights the tension between sporting ambition and commercial interests in Formula 1, and how even groundbreaking talent can provoke uncertainty among sponsors. Wolff’s confidence in Antonelli has now been vindicated, as the young champion cements his place among the sport’s elite.