‘It’s just part of learning’ – Wolff says he has ‘100% belief’ in Antonelli despite Zandvoort dramas

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has thrown his support behind Kimi Antonelli following the rookie racer’s turbulent weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix, stressing that he is “going to make mistakes” while getting used to life in F1.

Antonelli has experienced an up-and-down first season in F1, with highs including a maiden pole position for the Miami Sprint race and a breakthrough podium in Canada, and lows including incidents such as a first-lap collision with Max Verstappen in Austria.

When F1 returned from its summer break at Zandvoort, the teenager spoke of viewing the final 10 rounds as “a new start”, but his efforts were hampered almost immediately when he ran off the track during first practice.

Following a Q2 exit in Qualifying, Antonelli worked his way into the points-paying positions on race day, only for an attempted pass on Charles Leclerc for P5 in the closing stages to backfire – the Ferrari driver being sent into a spin and then the wall (see the video below).

Antonelli was subsequently given a 10-second time penalty by the stewards and tumbled down the order to 16th position, prompting plenty of questions during Wolff’s post-race media session in the paddock.

“When we made it clear last year in Monza that we would give him the opportunity, we were also saying that we would give him a year of learning, and there would be moments where we’d tear our hair out, and there would be other moments of brilliance,” Wolff began.

“I think this weekend pretty much sums that up. The mistake in FP1, clearly something that puts him on the back foot for the rest of the weekend, and then in the race, these moments of great driving.

“Once he was in free air, he was behind the McLaren, the quickest car, caught up, and then again was involved in that accident that unfortunately meant the end for Charles’ race and also for Kimi’s race. But we want him to go for the moves, obviously.

“So, up and downs, and that was absolutely expected from this season. And every one of those days is going to be a learning for next year.”

Asked about Antonelli taking out a Ferrari a week before the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Wolff argued that fans would rather see drivers “push to the limit and sometimes over” than be “hesitant” with their actions.

“Well, I was thinking in the race, what would it have been if Kimi would have overtaken a Ferrari?” Wolff said. “I think the people in Italy would have been happy. Italian fans want an Italian driver that is fighting, that pushes the car to the limit and sometimes over the limit. That’s what happened today.

“The Italian fans don’t want to have a hesitating driver, but someone that goes [for it]. Obviously, from the team’s perspective, we don’t want to take a Ferrari out. Certainly not. I’m sure that Kimi doesn’t want to take a Ferrari out particularly. But it is what it is. It’s hard racing.

“I’m sorry for Charles and Ferrari, but we want him to go for the moves, and he should.”

With Mercedes not fighting for this year’s Teams’ Championship, Wolff added that Antonelli’s dramas have “less relevance than next year, when it’s important to score the points”.

“We want to have a driver that has speed, that is fast, that learns, that scores the points, but all the big ones [drivers] make mistakes,” he commented, before pointing to Verstappen’s rollercoaster arrival in the sport at a similar age.

“It’s difficult to compare now because Max was given a different environment in Toro Rosso at the beginning, but there were also some moments where you said, ‘That was a big mistake’.

“Kimi, 18 years old, thrown in this mammoth of a team, representing Mercedes, he’s going to make mistakes. Hopefully less mistakes next year and scoring bigger points. But my 100% belief is in him in the long term, and that is just part of the learning.”