Kimi Antonelli watched Max Verstappen turn the Nurburgring 24 into appointment viewing for the global motorsport audience over the weekend — and the 19-year-old Mercedes rookie has been very honest about how much he liked what he saw.
Speaking publicly after his older friend's debut at the Green Hell, Antonelli said he could see himself one day taking on the same challenge.
"I would love to do an endurance race with Max," Antonelli said. "It's cool because we've both got a passion for GT cars."
The Italian even went a step further, suggesting he might try to start working toward his own Nordschleife permit. "I'll try and get my Nurburgring license by the end of the year," he indicated, citing the same kind of fascination with the 25-kilometre circuit that has long pulled professional racing drivers back to it on their off-weekends.
That was the point at which Mercedes felt the need to intervene.
Deputy team principal Bradley Lord, who previously led the squad's communications, was unambiguous in his on-camera response. He treated the comment as a joke that needed to be retired before it grew legs, confirming the team had already discussed the matter with Antonelli. According to Lord, the rookie will not be racing at the Nurburgring anytime soon, nor will he be granted permission to chase his licence right now. There are, in Lord's words, much bigger fish to fry.
The message from the wider Mercedes operation was even blunter: bring four world championship trophies back to Brackley first, and then we can talk about playing in the Eifel.
It is, by the standards of modern Formula 1 contract management, a fairly standard veto. Verstappen is able to race a Ferrari GT3 at one of the most dangerous circuits in the world because he is, for all intents and purposes, the controlling personality at Red Bull Racing. The same logic does not apply to a teenager in his second year of F1.
Mercedes' caution has also been informed by recent context. There was a fatal crash at the Nurburgring just a few weeks before this year's 24-hour race; first-lap car-on-wall incidents are a routine occurrence on the Nordschleife; and even Verstappen put his Ferrari into the barriers on his very first hot lap of the weekend. For a team trying to build a long-term world champion around Antonelli, the math is not difficult.
There is also genuine warmth in the Verstappen-Antonelli relationship that explains why the idea even came up. The Dutchman has taken on something of an older brother role for Antonelli, mindful of how brutal a trial by fire his own early F1 years were and visibly invested in making sure the kid does not have to learn everything the hard way.
"I'm in touch with Kimmy. I know he always follows the GT3 races, especially at the Nurburgring," Engel said. "It wouldn't surprise me if more drivers come here to discover just how incredible it is to drive a GT3 on the Nordschleife."
For now, though, Antonelli will have to stick to watching from the sofa. Mercedes have not said never. They have said not yet — and the prerequisites have been spelled out in clear corporate language.
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*Originally published on [News Formula One](https://newsformula.one/article/antonelli-nurburgring-24-mercedes-bradley-lord-veto). Visit for full coverage.*
