Toto Wolff has dismissed Andrea Kimi Antonelli‘s critics after the Italian took his maiden Grand Prix pole position at this weekend’s second Formula 1 race of the 2026 season.
Antonelli delivered a blistering lap in the final part of qualifying to head a third successive Mercedes front-row lockout, with George Russell taking second place on the grid.
Russell looked as if he would not participate in Q3 after suffering a technical problem, but even after being able to do so after miraculous work from the Mercedes team, the Brit was unable to better his teammate’s, Antonelli securing top spot by two tenths of a second.
After taking pole for the Miami Sprint last year, this is the 19-year-old’s first full Grand Prix pole position, and eclipses the previous record of youngest-ever pole-sitter, previously set by Sebastian Vettel for Toro Rosso back in 2008.
Antonelli was widely written-off across parts of last season, when he suffered a string of non-points finishes during the European leg of the 24-race calendar.
But Wolff believes that this is the answer to those who had already branded Antonelli a failure.
“Many said the kid was too young, that he was too young to be in a Mercedes, that we should have prepared him otherwise,” the Austrian said to Sky Sports F1.
“And the kid did well today, the youngest pole-sitter in history.”
Antonelli botched his grid getaway in the Sprint Race earlier in the morning, condemning him to a fourth-place finish behind Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Regardless of being leapfrogged by the Ferraris – as both Mercs have been twice already – Antonelli, provided he gets off the grid cleanly enough, is in a superb place to take his maiden Grand Prix victory.
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