Mercedes Formula 1 Team Principal Toto Wolff has moved to shut down talk of a Kimi Antonelli title run following the young Italian’s three consecutive Grand Prix wins.
The Miami GP marked Antonelli’s third consecutive race win, comfortably outperforming George Russell in the Sunshine State.
Antonelli’s run of success has opened up a 20 point lead over Russell after just four races, fuelling talk of a title run.
Mercedes has been carefully managing Antonelli, who is entering just his second season of F1, his run of wins surprising many in the paddock.
Team Principal Toto Wolff has moved to shut down title talk, putting the handbrake on suggestions that the Italian is building a title run.
“The easiest bit is making sure that he keeps both feet on the ground here in the team. His parents have played a big part in that to keep him grounded,” Wolff told media including Motorsport Week.
“The bigger problem is the Italian public. Now that they are not qualified for the football [World Cup], it’s all about [Jannik] Sinner and Antonelli. After Sinner won in Madrid, it’s the two that are superstars, and that’s something that we need to contain.
“There are so many requests for his time from the media, from sponsors, and it’s on us to keep the handbrake on that.
“The family and us – you’re the first one actually Marco to calm him down even when he is winning – we need to keep repeating the message.
“This is the long game, he has a killer of a teammate that is extremely fast. We want to play the long game, he can hopefully win many championships over 10 years, 15 years, we don’t want to stumble now with these huge expectations on him.”
Toto Wolff praises Kimi Antonelli winning run
Wolff labelled Antonelli’s run of form “astounding”, praising his young protegte.
“For me that was his best race so far. It reminds me of his karting days, there was no mistakes.
“It is astounding these few races. In a way it is what we predicted as a team. There are up and down moments, moments of brilliance, moments where you tear your hair out and this year it is all coming together.
“I don’t think any of us would have expected this kind of run. How he has been able to capitalise [on the car] is special.”
Wolff is continuing to control the narrative over Antonelli, aiming to keep momentum from building up to impossible to manage levels.
Discussion about this post