Kimi Antonelli 'will be a casualty' as Max Verstappen 'sets up four-driver shootout’
Max Verstappen's next steps could have consequences throughout the grid.
Johnny Herbert believes that Toto Wolff will oust wonderkid rookie Kimi Antonelli if Max Verstappen is interested in a move to Brackley next season. The former FIA steward believes that the Dutchman’s presence on the market could start a four-way shootout between Mercedes and Aston Martin’s drivers in 2026.
Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Verstappen confirmed that he plans to stick with Red Bull for the first year of the new technical regulations, but if the Milton Keynes squad fail to deliver him competitive machinery, he will likely look elsewhere. Mercedes, with their long-standing interest in Verstappen, and Aston Martin, with their significant financial backing and the presence of Adrian Newey, have been tipped as the most likely destinations for the reigning world champion.
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This would set up a shootout between incumbent drivers Antonelli, George Russell, Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll. However, with the Italian teenager currently struggling with just one top-nine finish in his last eight Grand Prix starts, he is the man at risk.
“At the moment, there are potentially two seats: Aston Martin and Mercedes in 2027,” Herbert told Grosvenor Casino, assessing Verstappen’s options. “Now, Kimi is not exactly wowing any of us at the present time. He is really struggling. He started okay, but it’s gradually got worse.
“And [Gabriel] Bortoleto has actually got better and stronger. So, for the two rookies, it's completely a different story. The one thing you've always got to remember about Kimi, and maybe not everybody's aware of that, is he literally did a whole season's testing before this year.
“So, when you say he's a rookie, he wasn’t really because he had done so much mileage and preparation for this year. And it isn't working out. Then you have this horrible question mark that comes into play; where is the performance that a lot of people, Toto especially, were expecting because it's just not happening.
“George is crushing him. On the podium again. That is where it becomes a very difficult thing. Kimi, okay, is young, but remember Max when he came in. Young isn't really the issue. The issue is if you have that mental capacity to absorb all the pressures that are going on in the car, in the team, in the media and everything else that goes with it.
“And then your senior teammate beats you as well. It's almost next year's going to be a shootout between George and Kimi for the one seat if Max was to go there. And potentially that's going to be the same thing with Aston Martin as well, unless Red Bull come up with something super special of course.
“So, it's a smart move in many respects by Max because everybody would want him in their team. So, if Mercedes can prove that they are the team to beat with then I think they will make that space happen and someone will be a casualty. I think it would be Kimi.”