Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has revealed internal conversations with George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli on its intra-team racing ethics, after the pair were involved in a heated on-track battle in the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix Sprint.
The German marque saw the first glimpse of the duo’s title battle come between them in a wheel-to-wheel situation, when, on Lap 5, the Italian tried to overtake on the outside of Turn 1, becoming the inside at Turn 2.
Russell defended with strength, and Antonelli was squeezed onto the grass, which led to an apparent loss of cool, going off again later in the lap, losing second to Lando Norris, before launching in a series of rants over the team radio.
With efforts from race engineer Peter Bonnington to calm Antonelli failed, Wolff was forced to intervene, telling Antonelli to “concentrate on the driving, please, not on the radio moaning.”
On the aptly-named cool-down lap, Antonelli continued to vent, with Wolff requesting a conversation in private to resolve the issue.
Wolff is no stranger to such issues, having dealt with three consecutive contentious title battles between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in 2014, ’15 and ’16, the pair coming together on a number of occasions.
And speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, the Austrian saw the positive side of the situation.
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“That was good, like sports should be – an inter-team battle or outside, and for us, it’s good learning,” he said.
“We obviously went through these motions with Nico and Lewis. Sprint races, there’s always a possibility to recalibrate or recondition.
“And it was very easy, because we sat them down and said: ‘How do we want to race? Are we racing the other car like any third car, which I’m fine with, and obviously, you don’t leave any space there. Or do you want to leave the space? Which I would not expect, because fundamentally, you are racing for winning and winning the championship. Or are we playing this super-smooth sailing, and you only overtake each other on the straight under braking?’
“We agreed that we trust them, they know how to push. But in any case, no one is expecting the other one to leave space, because it’s too important.”
With the pair on the front row, all eyes will be on them with excitement ramping up at the potential of a new plot in the 2026 season.
READ MORE – George Russell reveals Mercedes F1 ‘changes’ that almost ended Canadian GP pole hopes
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