Toto Wolff reveals how Kimi Antonelli has tamed Formula 1 ‘monster’

Mercedes’ Toto Wolff believes Kimi Antonelli has learned how to deal with the ‘monster’ of Formula 1, and has urged the Italian media not to apply too much pressure.

The Italian driver is leading the Drivers’ Championship by 41 points, having won five races in a row to open up a convincing gap to Lewis Hamilton.

Toto Wolff explains Kimi Antonelli’s Formula 1 transformation

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• Toto Wolff believes Kimi Antonelli has now learned how to handle the pressures and demands of Formula 1.
• Mercedes has actively reduced media and marketing demands while urging the Italian press not to overhype the 19-year-old.
• Despite leading the championship by 41 points, Antonelli insists it is still too early to think about the title fight.

With Antonelli winning his first race at this season’s Chinese Grand Prix, the 19-year-old has added four more victories to his name since as he went on an unprecedented run of form to open up a commanding lead.

Running in second place at last weekend’s Barcelona Grand Prix, Antonelli was set to expand his lead further over teammate George Russell before a battery issue on his W17 caused him to break down within sight of the chequered flag.

With Lewis Hamilton winning the race and Russell claiming second, Antonelli’s lead was slashed, but he still holds a daunting lead as the season reaches its first third completed.

It’s a remarkable turnaround from Antonelli, whose rookie year last season was sporadic in form: the teenager started strongly before going through a sustained period of inconsistent finishes through the European season, before he returned to form in the closing chapters.

For Mercedes‘ team boss Toto Wolff, Antonelli has learned significant lessons from last year, and so too has Mercedes, as the Brackley-based squad has taken away many of the commitments that distracted him.

“I think last year… I’ll say it differently, he was 18,” Wolff said during the Barcelona Grand Prix weekend.

“You’re being thrown into this monster called Formula 1 under the magnifying glass of everyone in a team that is capable of winning races, and I think the pressures are enormous.

“For me, it was almost like a young man in the headlights, discovering what this was all about. And then came the avalanche of interest and requests when we came back to Europe, and I think that was just too much. And then it’s totally different now to come back, to know how the system functions, what is requested of you, what is it you need for yourself to perform best.”

Added to that is the growing pressure from his home fans in Italy, who have waited a long time for success on the driver front: the last Italian World Champion was Alberto Ascari in 1953, while the last race winner was Giancarlo Fisichella in 2006.

This reduction in pressure is coming from Mercedes applying pressure of its own: the squad has been urging the Italian media not to get too swept up in the moment.

“We are trying to shield him from media and marketing activities in the way that they protect him and to the best of our ability,” he said.

“We keep emphasising to our friends from the Italian press also, ‘Please don’t draw any comparison with Ayrton Senna or ‘Il Fenomeno’, I think Gazzetta titled that he’s won five races in a row, which is unbelievable for a young man, but we haven’t won a championship, and he’s 19.

“So I think it’s just an experience explanation that I would give it. The talent was always there, and that you could see through all of the karting years, the junior formulas, that he was extraordinary, and therefore, we just needed to bide our time.

“I’ve said it many times last year, we would see moments of brilliance and moments where we would tear our hair out because of the mistakes. And this is exactly how it happened.

“Now, how he came out of the blocks this year was very exciting, but bearing in mind that George had his fair share of bad luck also, and I’m always trying not to reduce Kimi’s achievements, but these two are really, when it comes to pace, when it comes to racing results, they are not far away from each other.

“They keep challenging each other, which is also good. But it’s just a young man who has understood what the demands are of Formula 1, how to translate his talent into results. But we’re very impressed.”

At the end of May, Antonelli was honoured in his home country as he was awarded the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy, which saw him greeted by fans at Imola, and welcomed by the public in the towns of Faenza and Brisighella, Bandini’s hometown.

Having returned home to Italy as the championship leader, Antonelli said he has become aware of the weight of expectation as his success starts to give Italy hope of a modern-day Champion.

“I know expectations are growing, and, as I’m an Italian myself, I know how emotional we are and how excited we can get about things,” he said, in response to a question from PlanetF1.com about the home country expectation.

“So, yeah, for sure, the expectations are very high, but it was great. It was a great event, incredible to see so much support as well.

“It was an incredible event, it was so good to see so much support.

“I’m very, very well aware there’s a lot of expectation, but I’m not gonna get carried away by this expectation, just gonna try to stay focused on what I have to do, on the process, and then try to deliver the best result possible.”

More on Mercedes in F1

Mercedes sees battery issue breakthrough after costly Antonelli and Russell DNFs

Mercedes reveals costly George Russell pitstop error behind Barcelona pace drop

While Russell himself has suggested that the title is now Antonelli’s to lose, the 19-year-old downplayed this claim as he said he is taking the approach of isolating the season on a weekend basis, rather than focusing on the bigger picture of a title.

“I don’t really give weight to that line because it’s so early into the season, and it still is very, very early to think or talk about a championship,” he said.

“I just continue on trying to excel, try to do my best whenever I go in the car, trying to maximise the result, and then we’ll see where we end up in at the end of the season.

“But I also think it’s difficult to think about losing something when you don’t even have it. I didn’t win the championship, so how can I lose something that I didn’t even achieve?

“So, definitely, I will race as I always have, enjoy as much, and we’ll see where we end up at the end of the season.”

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