Kimi Antonelli’s aggressive driving style has been paying off for Mercedes in the 2026 Formula 1 season, but it has also been keeping Toto Wolff awake at night. The team principal revealed that he has already had to talk to the Italian’s father, Marco Antonelli, about the risks the young driver takes behind the wheel.
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At the Spanish GP, another situation of this kind occurred. Even while comfortably leading the race in the final laps, Antonelli kept pushing the pace. Six laps from the finish, he called his engineer Peter Bonnington on the radio to report that he had scraped the wall and asked for the W17 to be checked for any damage.
This type of situation is not new to Mercedes. Antonelli often exceeds track limits, goes a bit wide, and even reports possible contacts with the walls. For Wolff, this behavior might also help explain why the Italian can drive so fast: “I just discussed this with his father, and this is simply Kimi,” Wolff said when asked about Antonelli’s late touch on the wall.
The Mercedes boss recalled that he and Marco have had to insist quite a lot for Antonelli to respect the white lines. Wolff even mentioned the 2024 Monza TL1, when the driver exceeded track limits and ended up destroying the car: “We had to hammer into his head that he shouldn’t cross the white lines, even after Monza [2024 TL1], when he crossed the white lines and destroyed the car. I said to him: ‘Can’t you see from inside the car? Do you need to see the bosses that you have track limit problems?’”
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“We laughed about it, and [at the Spanish GP], six laps before the end or so, he says: ‘Check the car, I scraped the wall.’ He’s causing these grey hairs, but maybe that’s just how he is, and maybe that’s what makes him so fast.”
The phase Antonelli is going through in the championship also helps explain why any problem draws attention. The Italian leads the season with an 81-point advantage over teammate George Russell and is more than 100 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Despite the comfortable lead, Wolff wants to avoid any overconfidence. The Mercedes boss reminded that unexpected events can still change the scenario until the end of the championship. “Obviously, he’s not thinking about that. This kid is capable of compartmentalizing and being the young kid and then getting into the car and being the mature driver,” Wolff said. “That’s why Kimi tells himself: ‘I’m not thinking about the championship,’ and he’s not thinking about the championship. There are black swan events; they can happen, and you lose something in the end when you thought it was impossible to lose.”
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