Toto Wolff on Antonelli: "What we saw in a lap and a half was breathtaking"

If this is not the speech of a team principal about to announce the appointment of a young 18-year-old driver who had an accident car George Russell's Free Practice 1, it's hard to know what it's all about! While Andrea Kimi Antonelli was unhappy for his first official session in F1 losing the rear of the W15 which was entrusted to him at the entrance to the parabolic, Toto wolff defended himself an hour later in front of the media.

The coincidence of the calendar was such that the boss of Mercedes had been scheduled for a press conference at 15:30 p.m. for several days, and inevitably, the questions mostly revolved around the thirteen minutes played by the future replacement for Lewis Hamilton, whose junior career has been absolutely brilliant since the kartingFar from throwing stones at him, the Austrian preferred to focus on the positive.

45G crash for Antonelli

"First of all, he's ok, and that's the most important thing, because he suffered a 45G crash, reassured Wolff. It's unfortunate, because with 1 hour of driving, we could have seen a good performance. He's still a very young rookie, and we're prepared to invest in his future. These kinds of moments happen, and will continue to happen next year. There will also be a lot of good moments. Above all, we prefer to be in this situation: to make him slow down a little rather than telling him to go faster, because in the second case it's not possible. What we saw over a lap and a half was breathtaking.

RED FLAG 🚩

Andrea Kimi Antonelli loses the Mercedes in his 2nd lap 😯
The young pilot is doing well ✅#ItalianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/qaRlJ1a2eo

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) August 30, 2024

Leader of the timesheet after the first lap of each, the young Italian was indeed on a high level of attack in his lap of discord, having even lit the second sector in purple. The level of attack was undoubtedly too high, but Toto appreciated his attitude when returning to the garage. "He apologized, which is the right thing to do in the circumstances, especially after bringing home a car that was in pieces at floor level."

“He also said he felt very confident and the car was good. There was quite a bit of temperature on track, especially at the rear in Ascari, and that’s also why the rear failed. The strong drivers have to recover from that and keep up the pressure. This weekend is not easy because he has the F2 to manage too. He has all eyes on him, the Italian media are hyped, but if he wants to be champion one day, he will have to get used to it. I know he can and he will get there."

Wolff does not question anything for 2025

The Italian should not worry too much, however. In addition to having been comforted by Wolff on the radio ("Everything is fine Kimi"), the Italian has not diminished his chances of being in the starting line-up next year, even though the announcement has not yet been made. "There will be zero impact on our decisions for next year., Wolff assured. Drivers are hired based on their qualities. An FP1 went badly, but that is not a sufficient reason to decide in favor or against a driver.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli reacted rather well by taking 6th place on the grid in F2 an hour and a half later, ahead of his teammate Oliver Bearman. He should be back at the wheel of Lewis Hamilton's single-seater in Mexico in FP1, according to Toto Wolff, even if nothing has been fully decided yet. In any case, the boss of the marque with the star maintains unwavering faith in his young driver.

“The circumstances are difficult, adds Toto. In our industry, we know who is capable and who is not. He won everything before the F3. He ended up as a Mercedes driver in FP1. All this happened at Monza, in a context where an Italian driver had not been in a top team for ages. It's a lot for an 18-year-old boy. But he has to learn to swim. He probably feels terrible, and it's part of a development process. I don't want to be the one who says "look at this sector, this time, it could have been 3rd or 1st", but what we see is that there is performance in him. It's up to him to show it as soon as possible. Over a whole session next time!

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