F1 news: Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says tough Monza criticism ‘lit a fire’ under Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has suggested that his blunt verdict on Kimi Antonelli’s performance in Monza may have been just what the young driver needed.
After calling the Monza weekend “underwhelming,” Wolff says that the comment may have “lit a fire under the a***” of the rookie.
Wolff’s criticism came after a difficult Italian Grand Prix weekend for Antonelli, during which he ended up beached in the gravel in one session and then put in an overall performance Wolff described as “underwhelming.”
He made clear, though, that the tough assessment doesn’t diminish his faith in the driver’s future.
“It doesn’t change anything on my support and confidence in his future, because I believe he’s going to be very, very, very good,” Wolff said.
Signs of progress after Monza
Since Monza, Antonelli has shown signs of recovery. Wolff pointed to better weekends in Baku and Singapore as evidence of growth.
Wolff admitted that the European leg of the season had brought heavy attention and pressure on Antonelli, contributing to the strain on his performances.
“Since Baku I think we’ve seen a lot of big focus. Certainly Europe hasn’t helped, because there was so much attention on him and expectations were so high.
“I feel like he has less work outside, in terms of media duties and sponsorship duties, and he’s spending all of his time with his engineering team and that’s good,” said the Austrian.
A season of learning and adaptation
He described the current stretch as a period of learning, stressing that mistakes are a part of development:
“I think it’s a learning process also with Kimi to what he responds well [to], and we’ve always encouraged him, even encouraged [him] to make mistakes because this is the last year of these regulations.
“All the other drivers had got used to these cars – it’s his first year, he doesn’t know the track, he doesn’t know all of this world.
“So for next year everybody starts at zero with a car that you need to learn and, in that respect, I think he’s doing a good job, and it seems to have worked to [have] lit a little bit of fire under the a***, so we’ll see.”
Future with Mercedes still uncertain
With Antonelli’s recent improvements in form, it begs the question: will the young Italian finally get a contract extension with Mercedes?
George Russell, too, winner of the Singapore GP, is yet to receive a contract extension with the Silver Arrows.
While the heat at the upcoming United States Grand Prix on the weekend of October 17-19 may not favour the W15, should the Mercedes pair continue on their upward trajectory, could concrete talks of contract extensions surface?
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