Wolff Defends Antonelli After GP Crash: “Learning Year”

Toto Wolff Defends Kimi Antonelli After a Difficult Weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has come to Kimi Antonelli’s defense after a difficult weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix. Wolff emphasized that it’s natural to expect ups and downs in a young driver’s season, especially during their debut year. Antonelli’s race at the Zandvoort circuit ended abruptly when he collided with Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari at Turn 3. This incident forced both drivers to retire from the competition. Despite being the youngest driver on the grid, at 19 years old, Antonelli showed flashes of his potential by reaching sixth position after qualifying in 11th place. However, a mistake in the first practice session on Friday complicated his weekend. Almost a year after Mercedes confirmed that Antonelli would replace Lewis Hamilton, Wolff reiterated that a season full of challenges was expected. “When we announced in Monza last year that we would give him this opportunity, we also said that it would be a year of learning,” explained Wolff.

“There will be moments when we despair and others of brilliance. I think this weekend sums it up quite well,” he added.

Toto Wolff

Wolff also commented on the incident in the race: “These moments of great driving, once he was in clean air, he was behind the McLaren, the fastest car, and then he was involved in that accident.” Wolff emphasized that the team expects Antonelli to “go through the motions.” “So, ups and downs, but I absolutely expected that from this season and each of those days is going to be a learning experience for next year,” he added. Regarding whether the pressure of driving for Mercedes has influenced Antonelli’s mistakes, Wolff highlighted that the driver is only 19 years old and has little experience in Formula 1. “It’s not just the rookie season, what we forget is the decision we made to put an 18-year-old in the car, who had barely two and a half years of racing in single-seaters,” added Wolff. “When you see it, he’s still a boy we’ve thrown into this environment.” Wolff concluded: “Positives and negatives, but we were aware. Rookie and 18 years old, when we put him in the car. That combination certainly gives some tough moments.”

Although Mercedes has not yet made an official announcement about its driver lineup for 2026, Wolff confirmed that Antonelli and George Russell will remain with the team next season. Confirmation was expected after Max Verstappen made it clear that he will remain at Red Bull next year, but Wolff indicated that some minor details of Russell’s contract are still being negotiated. “I always say there won’t be big news because we’re doing this: we’re going to continue with the two of them, of course,” Wolff said about Antonelli and Russell. “With George, there are some things we want to optimize. Some of the trips and marketing days. How many hours we are dedicating. He’s an experienced pilot.” “For us, it’s always important to talk about it. We want to get the best performance from the drivers. And I think we’ve given them both quite a bit of work with marketing activities and the media.” “And that’s how we are, in a way, recalibrating. Is there going to be an announcement at Monza? No.” “But I don’t think it’s even going to be a big announcement. They’ll just give the media a heads-up and say we’ve put a signature on the agreement.”