Toto Wolff defended Kimi Antonelli after the mistake at the start of the Austrian GP that caused his retirement: here are the Mercedes Team Principal’s words.
Toto Wolff did not have the Austrian GP he expected: Kimi Antonelli retired shortly after the start, taking Verstappen with him, while George Russell finished fifth. Shortly after the start, at the braking zone of turn 3, Antonelli delayed his braking. To avoid Lawson, he locked the rear wheels, and then the front didn’t help him forward. Max Verstappen also suffered consequences as he found himself in the trajectory of the 18-year-old’s Mercedes.
Antonelli apologized to the team and the four-time world champion, who immediately forgave him, saying: “It’s not a problem. I get along very well with Kimi and I know nobody does these things on purpose. It was just very unlucky. He’s a good guy, very talented. He also apologized right away. Every driver in the paddock has made these kinds of mistakes. You learn a lot from them.”
George Russell was the only Mercedes driver to finish the race, ending fifth, a minute behind the McLarens.
Toto Wolff’s comments
When Toto Wolff spoke about the race, he started with Antonelli’s incident that led to a three-place grid penalty for the Italian at Silverstone. The Team Principal said: “We always knew that in the end… No, I’ll put it another way. These are mistakes that happen. The rear wheels locked on the car.” – he added – “I’m not entirely sure if it was Antonelli’s fault or a system issue. I haven’t seen data or heard anything because obviously we were focused on the race. But it happens, that’s well known.”
“It’s a shame for Max and Red Bull that Kimi hit him, but it’s part of racing. Yes, I talked to him,” Wolff explained, “he came straight back to the garage. I told him ‘Well, it didn’t go well’, which he obviously knew, but he said the tires just locked up and that we need to analyze the situation.”
He then reflected that Max Verstappen was just a spectator in the incident but stressed that these things happen in F1: “It’s a shame for Max… that we brought another car with us, but this can happen to the greats, the inexperienced, and the experienced alike: it’s part of F1.”
From Canada to Austria
Mercedes went from pole position and victory in Montreal to third place behind McLaren and Ferrari in Austria. Toto Wolff added a few words on Mercedes’ overall weekend performance, recalling the 2024 clash between Max Verstappen and Norris that allowed Russell to win.
He commented: “Looking at our performance last year, we won… we won the race here. We were, I don’t remember, 10-15 seconds behind the leaders. And that was a very solid performance.”
“This year we’re a minute behind the leaders, so what happened today is clearly out of the ordinary. Right now we’re experimenting a bit, how to position ourselves, how to put the car on track, where to set the balance. And clearly this time we made a mistake. And we know it,” he explained – “I think it’s not just about the asphalt, the long corners, and the heat. Clearly, it’s not our strong point, but that doesn’t explain the gap, and I think we know why. But hindsight is always 20/20,” Toto Wolff concluded.
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