Toto Wolff admitted that he did not like the way Kimi Antonelli reacted on the radio during the Formula 1 Canadian GP. The Mercedes boss commented on the tense moments between the young Italian and George Russell, after an intense internal battle at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
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The battle between the two Mercedes drivers was one of the highlights of the weekend in Montreal. Antonelli attempted several overtakes on his teammate both in the Sprint race and in the main GP, generating moments of strong pressure inside the German team’s garage.
The first incident happened right on lap six of the Sprint, at turn 1, when Antonelli had to use the escape area to avoid a collision with Russell. A few corners later, the two met again in another tight situation, again after an overtaking attempt by the young Italian.
After going over a bump on the track, Antonelli went off the racing line to avoid contact with Russell. Annoyed by the episode, the nineteen-year-old driver complained on the radio that he had been pushed off the track by his teammate, and even suggested that Russell should be penalized.
His race engineer, Pete Bonnington, tried to calm Antonelli during the battle, but the situation required direct intervention from Wolff to reduce the tension during the race. After the weekend, the Austrian executive acknowledged that there is room for improvement in how communications are handled over the radio.
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“When you listen to some radio messages, I think there is room for improvement. Showing emotion is part of it, but focusing on driving is important,” Wolff told GPblog.
Despite the criticism, the Mercedes boss downplayed any major problem between the two drivers and highlighted that such behavior is natural in high-level battles: “They behave like drivers fighting for a championship. I don’t see a mistake in that,” he added.
Even so, Wolff made it clear that he prefers a less emotional stance in communications during races: “This is something we can resolve internally. But I don’t appreciate so much, if that’s the right word, elaborating emotions on the radio,” concluded the Mercedes executive.
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