Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff described Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix podium as one of the two “perfect” moments he has witnessed in Formula 1.
Kimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old Mercedes prodigy, achieved the first victory of his career in a Grand Prix in China, surpassing his teammate George Russell and former Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on the podium.
Peter Bonington, Antonelli’s race engineer, joined them, who was also Hamilton’s engineer during his six drivers’ championships with Mercedes.
There are few moments that are perfect in Formula 1, and I had one of them in 2014, and maybe this was the second.
Toto Wolff
Wolff commented that seeing the four on the podium was one of the highlights of his F1 career, only comparable to Mercedes’ first victory in Austria in 2014, when Nico Rosberg and Hamilton shared the podium with Valtteri Bottas, then a Williams driver and also managed by Wolff.El Gran Premio de China del domingo fue una carrera para recordar para Toto Wolff.“Seeing the podium, with Kimi winning his first Grand Prix, doing a one-two with George, whose race was affected at the beginning, Lewis third and Bono right in the middle of them,” said Wolff.
“He’s been with Lewis for many years, and has been part of Kimi’s success, growing and developing him. And then these three spraying champagne on the podium, Lewis having beaten Charles Leclerc, so he’s in a good mood. This was simply great to see.”
Antonelli lost the lead of the race to Hamilton at the first corner, but regained the position on the second lap.
A battle for second place behind Antonelli allowed him to open a lead of several seconds, which Wolff said was only at risk if the 19-year-old pushed too hard.
After a lock-up at Turn 14 with a few laps to go, Wolff communicated via radio with Bonington to remind Antonelli to calm down.
“All systems seemed to be fine and in the end it was fine, it’s just when Kimi can’t help it, with another faster lap and another faster lap,” said Wolff.
“And we know the Monza pattern, from his first FP1 [when he crashed on his second lap]. So I told Bono, come on, let’s tell him to calm down. And he said: ‘no, I think he’s at his best’. I said: ‘yes, he may be at his best, but we don’t want him to lose this race’. Then, bam!, he missed the braking [at turn 14]. I said, ‘well, yes, it’s okay, now calm down'”.
