SEPTEMBER 1, 2025

Wolff right to keep protecting Antonelli

Toto Wolff has given his clearest indication yet that Mercedes will definitely continue with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli into Formula 1's new rules era.

With Max Verstappen staying put at Red Bull, Wolff all but confirmed his own team's 2026 driver pairing after the Dutch GP. The team's driver lineup for the 2026 season will certainly be confirmed as it is, he told Sky Deutschland.

I don't see any reason not to continue working with either of the drivers - they are performing well. I think George is doing much better than the car allows in most grands prix. Antonelli just needs to get his confidence back. But he's definitely got the speed, so it'll be fine.

Antonelli, 19, endured another notably bad weekend - ultimately wiping out Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and collecting a 10-second penalty before adding another 5 seconds for pitlane speeding.

Yet team boss and personal mentor Wolff continues to support the rookie. Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher believes Wolff's approach is the right one.

That's how it should be, he told Sky Deutschland. "When you give a young man such an opportunity, and he's rushed through all these junior classes, then when he gets up here, he needs time. And I think it's great that they're supporting him.

His speed was definitely there, but he certainly still needs to work on it.

Antonelli himself was quick to shoulder the blame late on Sunday. That was definitely my fault, he admitted.

I caused it, there's no sugarcoating it. It's not a nice feeling to knock an opponent out of the race.

Wolff, however, brushed off the latest in a series of errors as part of the learning process. We want a fast driver who learns and scores points, but all good drivers make mistakes, he said.

The Austrian was asked if Antonelli's chaotic early career can be compared to the mistakes Max Verstappen also made as a teenager.

It's hard to compare with Max (Verstappen) because Max was in a different environment at Toro Rosso, said Wolff.

"Kimi is 19 years old, in a giant team like Mercedes. He will make mistakes. Hopefully next year there will be fewer of them and more points.

But I believe in him 100 percent in the long term. This is just part of the learning curve.

(GMM)