Mercedes, winning bet
After objectively difficult years in the period of Formula 1 ground effect, the Mercedes has returned to the top of the sport finding a potential champion already at home. What is certain is that if there is a person who is not surprised by the exploits of Andrea Kimi Antonelli that is Toto Wolffwho strongly defended the last season choice to focus on the 19-year-old Italian to fill the chasm – at least in terms of the personality and sporting significance of the pairing – left by the farewell of Lewis Hamilton.
Toto Wolff and Kimi Antonelli’s title chances
Yet, however, now that the Bolognese talent is at the top of the rankings, the team principal necessarily tries to protect his protégé from media pressure that will otherwise be difficult to sustain. “Now they will ask him in the press conference if he can win the championship – explains Toto Wolff speaking of Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s leadership of the World Championship, achieved after the two victories in a row between Shanghai and Suzuka – but they shouldn’t do that. He has only achieved two successes so far, but there are still 19 races to go until the end of the season and there is plenty of time to win but also to lose. Antonelli must continue to do a good job”.
The Mercedes team principal, however, obviously he gloats thinking back to the many criticisms he received last season when it seemed that Antonelli, after the excellent start to the championship – especially memorable was the exploit in the rain in Melbourne but also the good tire management shown in the Suzuka race – then struggled, and quite a bit, especially on the European tracks, which he knew much better. Nonetheless, the Austrian manager places limits on his desire to go unbalanced regarding the internal struggle in his box: “We will only be able to talk about the championship in Abu Dhabi, and there is still a long way to go before then. Nothing has really happened yet, and we haven’t even completed 20% of the season”, concluded Toto Wolff speaking about Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s leadership in the F1 world championship.
