World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): Legal row with former manager

The wheels of the Italian legal system turn slowly – something we have learnt on several occasions in connection with legal disputes in the world of motor sport.

Since the second half of 2025, a legal dispute has been dragging on between Giovanni Minardi, the 51-year-old son of team founder Giancarlo Minardi (78), and the current Formula 1 World Championship leader, Kimi Antonelli (19).

Minardi the younger boasts of having discovered Antonelli. He once said: “It was impossible to overlook Kimi’s talent.”

Minardi took the young Antonelli under his wing as a kart driver, but this relationship broke down when Mercedes began to nurture the exceptional talent.

The claimant, Minardi, now maintains that the agreement between him and Antonelli was terminated unilaterally. Giovanni Minardi is claiming fees which – in his view – he is entitled to under the agency agreement, but which Antonelli has never paid.

According to reports in the Italian media, including the *Corriere dello Sport*, the two sides have hardened their positions and there is no prospect of an out-of-court settlement. The court will have to assess whether Minardi’s claims are justified.

It is not known what sum Minardi’s claims amount to. The dispute before a court in Bologna is set to enter its next phase this coming autumn.