Mecixo City – Ferrari fans can only imagine what might have been had local boy Kimi Antonelli signed for their team rather than Mercedes as a young go-karter.

Formula One’s oldest and most successful team had the chance to secure the talent now set to become Italy’s first champion in 73 years, and Formula One’s youngest ever, but let it slip through its fingers.

Mercedes seized the opportunity instead in 2018, when Antonelli was 11.

“For Ferrari, Kimi was still too young whereas Mercedes could offer better guarantees regarding his future prospects,” Antonelli’s former manager Giovanni Minardi told the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper earlier this year.

Former Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo, who was no longer involved with the team at that point, saw a silver lining.

“I am a Ferrari man, but I’m delighted to see what Antonelli is doing,” he told Spanish newspaper AS last month. “What I do regret is that Ferrari had the chance to sign him.…