Toto Wolff is once again bursting with pride for his protégé Kimi Antonelli. The young Italian was again faster than teammate George Russell on Saturday and secured pole position for the Japanese GP. The more experienced Briton struggled with setup issues and therefore had to settle for the second-fastest time. After this performance by Antonelli, Wolff sends a clear warning to the competition: watch out, this young driver is coming!
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After qualifying, Toto Wolff did not hide his admiration when speaking to Sky Sports. After his first victory in China, the 19-year-old Antonelli has excellent prospects for a second consecutive win. “When you hear his radio communication – and also via the intercom in the garage – he is just so calm,” the Mercedes team principal said proudly.
“He doesn’t put too much pressure on himself. Besides, that one lap was just rock solid,” he said, referring to the final phase of qualifying. “Bono (Antonelli’s race engineer, ed.) then told him to put in a so-called safe lap. He pushed a bit too hard then, but otherwise, we can be very satisfied with this.”
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Bad luck for Russell
Things went less smoothly for George Russell. He complained about a lack of rear grip and suffered a lot from oversteer. “We made a small adjustment to the setup,” Wolff explained. “Something we expected would have less impact than it eventually did.” When asked if that would help him in the race, Wolff responded: “Probably the exact opposite. He has to take this into the race now, which is certainly a disadvantage, but those things happen.”
At Viaplay, Wolff once again emphasized how proud he is of Antonelli. Furthermore, he stated that the young driver is no longer playing a supporting role within Mercedes. “I am really very happy with his performance,” the Austrian cheered. “He approaches it all so calmly and calculatedly. He is coming!”, Wolff warned the competition. “The more experience he gains, the better he assesses the possible scenarios. In addition, he doesn’t put unnecessarily much pressure on himself.”
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