After Kimi Antonelli’s first Formula 1 victory, achieved at Sunday’s (15) Chinese GP, Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal and responsible for bringing the driver to the category, revealed the meaning of the message he sent to the driver during the race.
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At the moment of celebration, Wolff said: “He is too young. We shouldn’t put him in a Mercedes. Put him in a smaller team. He needs experience. Just look at the mistakes he makes. Here we go, Kimi. Victory.”
In an interview, Wolff explained the intention behind the statement: “When, suddenly, things go wrong, there are people who show up and say it was a bad decision and that Mercedes took too many risks. It was never a really harsh criticism because people recognize the talent Kimi has. But there were many voices within the sport and outside who said it was a mistake to do this. So it’s good to have a little revenge.”
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Wolff also reflected on the volatile nature of Formula 1: “Today is great. In two weeks we are in Japan and he crashes the car into the wall and people will say he is too young. So I think we need to keep our feet on the ground.”
Furthermore, the executive asked the Italian press to reduce the pressure on the driver: “You need to write this in Italy too. Please help him, because remember last year, ‘Grande Kimi’, whatever it was, and then Imola came and it was an avalanche of pressure. There should be no pressure at the moment.”
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