Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff on Antonelli: “People tend to forget that”

Just how cool is this Kimi Antonelli, really? Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff revealed, following his Italian protégé’s ninth Grand Prix victory, that the championship leader had popped into his office shortly before the US Grand Prix.

The Austrian said: “He popped into my office and said: ‘I’m not nervous at all. I want to enjoy this and not think about the title. Isn’t that a bit odd?’ He’s on a journey of discovery – emotionally too – to see what this World Championship season is doing to him. And he’s delivered from start to finish. He’s a truly exceptional lad.”

Mercedes opted for a one-stop strategy right from the start of this race and didn’t let themselves be rattled even when it became clear that Red Bull Racing and Ferrari would be stopping twice.

Toto Wolff: “Of course we’d considered that Max might pose a threat to us. But we stuck to our plan. We were convinced that the one-stop strategy was the quickest way to the finish on the day, and that’s exactly how it turned out.”

“In the end, the race finished pretty much as we’d imagined it would.”

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Wolff on Kimi again: “People are a bit taken aback by Kimi’s fantastic performances, but they easily forget that there are nine years of development behind them. And there were difficult moments too – I’m thinking back to 2025, when he went nine races without scoring any points, and there were tears in Belgium. It wasn’t all plain sailing.”

“Of course, Kimi was able to control the race from the front and have a clear run – that was crucial for his race. But I think what was even more important was that we stuck to our strategy. We had confidence in our calculations.”