Wolff reviews Mercedes’ “extreme pressure” approach to Antonelli in F1 debut year

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has conceded that the team has put Andrea Kimi Antonelli “under maximum pressure” in his debut Formula 1 season – but says the 19-year-old remains a long-term hire.

Antonelli has enjoyed the highs of a maiden podium and a sprint race pole in 2025, but has endured some more difficult moments; since his podium in Montreal, he has scored just one point.

Some of that misfortune has been down to unreliability in his Mercedes W16, but he also was the master of his own misfortune with a Monaco qualifying shunt, the collision with Max Verstappen at the start of the Austrian Grand Prix, and difficult qualifying sessions of late.

Antonelli had also come unstuck in FP1 at the Dutch GP, beaching his car after understeering into the gravel at Turn 9.

Wolff reflected on the path that Mercedes had put Antonelli on to reach F1, and admitted that it might have been a mistake to thrust him into the limelight with his Monza FP1 session last year – in which he infamously crashed on his second flying lap.

“I think we have put Kimi under maximum pressure, to be honest,” said Wolff, whose driver replaced seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. “Looking at it now, I felt it was a great idea to have him in FP1 in Monza and present him there – that was maybe a mistake.

“Not because he wasn’t capable of driving the car, but because if he would have finished that lap without crashing it would have been sensational and it would have built the confidence and that’s why.

“He’s in a Mercedes, he’s very visible, his results are very visible, his team-mate is great and he’s maximising the car – and therefore you know he feels himself under the magnifying glass.”

Wolff added that Mercedes will continue to invest in Antonelli’s future; he is expected to remain at the team in 2026, as the Silver Arrows sorts out contracts with he and team-mate George Russell.

The Austrian added that individual sessions aren’t going to change Mercedes’ opinion on backing Antonelli.

“The team will just continue to believe in him,” said Wolff. “He needs the time; we’ve embarked on this route. You can say ‘well, was it right to put him under so much pressure by putting him in the team?’

“We’ve taken that trajectory, we’ve taken that route, and we are fully on the mission. Single race weekends or a session like we had before it’s not going to change our opinion.

“Short term, we’re going to say that [certain results are] not good – but Kimi is a long-term investment.”

Also noting that reserve driver Valtteri Bottas will need replacing as the Finn agreed to a Cadillac deal for 2026, Wolff said that the team “‘haven’t figured it out yet. It’s super difficult to replace Valtteri – he ticks all the boxes”.