Toto Wolff admitted to having been very close to intervening in the fratricidal duel between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli for the victory at the Italian Grand Prix, but he ultimately chose to do nothing.
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The Mercedes boss even had his finger ready to press the radio button, but ultimately chose to let his two drivers fight freely, despite an incident that could have cost the team dearly.
Mercedes dominated the Italian Grand Prix, but the victory turned into a real internal battle between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
Wolff had his finger on the radio
Starting only 19th after a penalty related to exceeding his power unit quota, Antonelli made a spectacular comeback. After only 16 laps, the championship leader was already in second place and could directly attack his teammate.
The two Mercedes then exchanged their positions at the front several times before a virtual safety car disrupted the situation. Antonelli took advantage to make his stop. Restarting 14 seconds behind Russell with fresher tires, the Italian quickly closed the gap. Six laps from the finish, he was again in the slipstream of his teammate’s Mercedes.
Faced with the increasing intensity of the duel, Toto Wolff seriously considered intervening: “We try to anticipate the different possible scenarios and both were excellent in understanding and accepting the importance of the team, which is difficult for a driver trying to win a Grand Prix,” Wolff explains.
The stakes were particularly high for each of the two drivers: “Especially for Kimi at Monza, and especially for George, who must continue to score points to stay in the championship fight. But they always fought cleanly.”
The Mercedes boss nevertheless admits that some situations were starting to become worrying: “At times, we said to ourselves: ‘It’s clean, but it’s a bit tight.’ I had my finger on the button to talk to Marcus, Bono, Kimi, or George, but I didn’t press it.”
« We would have looked stupid »
Wolff therefore deliberately let his drivers decide the result on track. However, this freedom almost backfired on Mercedes on lap 49. Russell tried to avoid cutting the second corner while Antonelli, having arrived on the dirty part of the track and lacking grip, went wide towards the gravel (photo above).
For a few moments, the Mercedes one-two seemed like it could turn into a disaster: “The last incident was unfortunate,” admits Wolff. “George tried not to cut the corner and Kimi ended up on the rubber debris before going straight on. It could have ended in disaster for our result. We would have looked stupid.”
The two drivers ultimately avoided contact and Mercedes achieved the perfect result. Antonelli won with a four-second lead over Russell, while Max Verstappen finished 15 seconds further back.
Mercedes wants to continue letting its drivers fight
Despite this big scare, Wolff does not believe Mercedes should now impose stricter rules: “We will talk about this situation as a new step in how we want to race in the future. But I think it was worth showing the competitive spirit within the team and letting them fight.”
Russell, for his part, would have preferred to continue his duel with Antonelli on equal strategy. The Briton felt he had prepared his race precisely for this type of confrontation: “I would have loved to continue with the same strategy because I felt in a good position in this battle,” he explains. “I knew exactly what I had to do with energy management to defend, but also when to attack and make those moves. I had prepared this race a lot with that in mind.”
The virtual safety car ultimately gave Antonelli an ideal opportunity to stop: “When the VSC came out, it was exactly the perfect moment to make the stop. And here we are.”
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