Toto Wolff could barely hide his admiration – and a dose of frustration – after Kimi Antonelli stormed to a second consecutive victory at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday at Suzuka.
It was a performance that confirmed the 19-year-old’s meteoric rise to the top of Formula 1 – yet, in Wolff’s eyes, it also exposed a lingering weakness that could yet derail Mercedes if left unchecked.
Antonelli’s race at Suzuka was anything but straightforward. Starting from pole ahead of teammate George Russell, the Italian’s launch off the line faltered badly, dropping him all the way down to sixth before the first corner.
The driving school deficit
While the recovery drive was masterclass-level, Wolff was quick to point out that even a generational talent has room for improvement when it comes to the fundamentals.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Wolff didn’t hold back on the technical "botch" that nearly ruined the afternoon.
“Yeah, absolutely. A botched start; these kids learn in the driving schools with automatics, so we need to teach them how you release a clutch – slowly, steadily and not too quick,” Wolff noted with a mix of pragmatism and wit.
The Mercedes boss admitted that the sight of his star pupil bogged down at the lights triggered a sense of déjà vu.
“I thought, ‘Not again’, because obviously we’re not giving them the easiest of tools so our starts have generally been a bit on the mediocre side and we need to improve that, but in that case, the driver had massive influence of that car not going away,” Wolff explained.
“Looked good with the wheelspin, but it isn’t fast. But then in the race, he made his way up, and at the moment where it mattered he was really fast and we were able to extend his stint by that one lap, and that caused George’s race to go belly-up and made the difference.”
A Tale of Two Garages
While Antonelli capitalized on a Safety Car period triggered by Ollie Bearman’s crash to re-take the lead and vanish into a 13-second gap, teammate George Russell’s Sunday was far more grueling.
A set-up change prior to qualifying left Russell wrestling with an uncooperative W17, eventually finishing fourth.
Wolff acknowledged that the performance gap between his two drivers this weekend was more about the machinery than the men.
“The mistake that was made collectively in qualifying really put him on the back foot with the car – it transformed the car,” Wolff said.
“For pole position, between the two it was pretty narrow, and then obviously from Q1 it wasn’t good enough anymore and he had to fight with that too today. I think in equal cars it’s going to be close as ever.
“But in the moment where it was about going fast, we had to decide to protect the position against Leclerc I believe, and Kimi was still putting in perfect times, so that made the difference, but I guess [Russell] had a car that wasn’t perfect.”
Read also: Russell blames SC timing and technical ‘issues’ for missed Suzuka win
Reflecting on Antonelli’s meteoric rise – from a young junior karter signed in 2019 to a championship leader – Wolff couldn’t help but marvel at the passage of time.
“You see how quickly it goes and how quickly we age, because that seemed like years ago when he was a kid,” Wolff smiled.
“When he came into the office, he met James Allison and James Allison thought it was a kid who had lost his parent and was looking for someone.
“It’s incredible – yesterday he was 14, today he’s 19, he’s winning two races in a row in Formula 1, and we’re really happy about the development he’s taken.”
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