Antonelli walks back after retiring from the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, in the same metropolitan area as the Bologna court hearing the case. Photo: Jen Ross, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2025_Imola_GP_Kimi_Antonelli_(cropped).jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>
Mercedes has until November 6 to give a Bologna civil court every contract it has signed with Kimi Antonelli since he joined its junior program, plus a full accounting of every payment it has made to him. The team is not the one being sued. The championship leader is.
The plaintiff is Giovanni Minardi, son of former team owner Giancarlo Minardi, whose company Minardi Management represented Antonelli in karting. His lawyer, Mattia Grassani, told the Italian news agency Adnkronos on October 15 that the Tribunale di Bologna had granted his request and ordered both Mercedes and Antonelli to produce the contracts and payment records. LaPresse and Il Fatto Quotidiano reported the same deadline and a next hearing on November 19.
What Minardi claims
Minardi signed Antonelli in 2014 after spotting him at a karting event. Mercedes announced him as a member of its junior team in April 2019, when he was 12. At some point after that, Antonelli ended the Minardi agreement unilaterally. Grassani calls the termination illegitimate and says the contract would have run until 2028.
The demand, as LaPresse and Il Fatto describe it, is 10 to 20 percent of what Antonelli has earned and will earn through 2028. Sportmediaset put 15 to 20 percent in its headline and 10 to 20 percent in its own body text. None of the reports gives a euro figure, and Grassani hasn’t offered one. He told Adnkronos the court should calculate what is owed under the agreed percentages once the documents are in.
That is the point of the order. Minardi cannot put a number on his claim without knowing what Mercedes pays its driver, and Mercedes has never published that. Grassani described the material he expects as a “copiosa mole di documentazione,” a hefty pile of paperwork.
Several things the reports leave out: the date of the termination, when the agreement running to 2028 was signed, and whether it is the same contract from 2014 or a later renewal. A deal that started when Antonelli was a child and ran into his early twenties would cover his entire path to Formula 1, which is why 2028 matters.
How the order works
Article 210 of Italy’s code of civil procedure lets a judge order a party, or a third party, to produce a specific document when it is needed to decide the case. Under article 116, a judge can draw conclusions from a party’s refusal to comply.
The order also forces open a set of numbers F1 teams guard closely. Italian reports put Antonelli’s 2025 salary and bonuses above €10 million, but none cites a document for it. Once the contracts reach the court file, those figures will exist on paper in Bologna.
Antonelli’s side
Neither Antonelli, his lawyers nor Mercedes has commented publicly on the case, and none of the three Italian reports names the driver’s legal team. Il Fatto reported that Antonelli’s camp, including his family, believes he acted within the rules, and that Mercedes was already managing his professional affairs when the split happened. No court has ruled on the merits.
Il Fatto also reported that team boss Toto Wolff and Gwen Lagrue, who ran the Mercedes junior program, could be called as witnesses. Lagrue is on his way out regardless: Mercedes confirmed his departure in July, and Red Bull has hired him to replace Helmut Marko.
Settlement talk
Grassani has said publicly that a deal is the best outcome. “Non giova a nessuno coltivare un contenzioso,” he told Adnkronos: dragging out a lawsuit helps nobody. He also told reporters the sides remain far apart. LaPresse reported that the judge may propose a settlement at the November 19 hearing.
Antonelli arrives in Austin for the October 25 race leading the drivers’ standings on 340 points, 102 clear of teammate George Russell. Il Fatto noted that Antonelli could clinch the title in Texas, nearly two weeks before the documents are due.
The contracts go to the court on November 6. Thirteen days later, the parties are back in Bologna, and for the first time Minardi’s lawyer will be arguing over a percentage of a known number.
Should the karting manager who signed Antonelli as a kid still get a cut of his F1 salary after the driver walked, or did the deal stop mattering once Mercedes ran his career?
Sources: Statements by Mattia Grassani to Adnkronos (Oct. 15, 2026); reporting by LaPresse, Il Fatto Quotidiano and Sportmediaset (Oct. 15, 2026); Formula 1 official 2026 drivers’ standings; Italian Code of Civil Procedure, articles 116 and 210.
Lead image: Jen Ross, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
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