Kimi Antonelli's rise at Mercedes is no longer just a sporting story. It is becoming a contract story too, and one that could force the team to rethink how it values one of Formula 1's most talked-about young drivers, with Guenther Steiner among the voices able to frame just how quickly the situation has shifted.
Last year, Mercedes negotiated a contract extension that reportedly gives George Russell around €34 million per season. But the latest reports around Antonelli suggest a very different picture: a current deal that could leave him entitled to a €15 million bonus, while his base salary is said to be just €3.4 million. That is a striking gap inside the same team, and it tells you how rapidly Antonelli's standing has changed during the 2026 campaign.
Why Antonelli's value has changed
At the start of the championship, Russell was widely regarded as Mercedes' leading driver. Antonelli, by contrast, was the teenager whose promotion carried promise but also obvious risk. As the season has progressed, that balance has shifted.
Antonelli's performances have transformed the perception of Mercedes' decision to move him up, and with that has come a much bigger sense of commercial and sporting value. His popularity in Italy and his growing international profile have only strengthened that position. In modern Formula 1, that matters almost as much as lap time.
The contract dilemma for Mercedes
The numbers make the issue impossible to ignore. If Antonelli is currently on €3.4 million and linked to a €15 million bonus, his package looks modest next to Russell's reported €34 million salary. Yet the driver who was once seen as the junior figure is now one of the defining stories of the season.
That is why attention is turning toward negotiations over Antonelli's next contract as the campaign approaches its conclusion. Mercedes will know that keeping a driver who has become more central to the team's identity is not simply a matter of matching performance with praise. It will also mean matching performance with money.
For now, the sporting story remains clear: Antonelli has changed the conversation. The financial one may be next.
