Toto Wolff's Italian GP admission puts Kimi Antonelli's F1 future at risk

Mercedes

Toto Wolff's Italian GP admission puts Kimi Antonelli's F1 future at risk

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff chose to not back his drivers at Monza

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Thursday 11 September 2025 17:54

Last weekend's Italian Grand Prix saw F1 boss Toto Wolff label Mercedes' weekend at Monza as 'underwhelming'.

Instead of putting his full support behind his drivers, Wolff used his post-race interview to express his disappointment in their performances, with many worrying that his comments were mostly aimed at Kimi Antonelli after another disappointing result for the rookie.

On Friday in Monza, the 19-year-old managed to beach his W16 into the gravel yet again after being ruled out of a practice session in Zandvoort for the same thing just one week before.

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After managing to pick himself up and finish in the points on Sunday, it seems Wolff is still expecting more of Antonelli.

"All around, there's never one reason, a combination between the tyres, the chassis, the drivers, all need to go hand in hand and if there's just one weak link then you are losing and if there's two or three then you have no chance," the Austrian said after Sunday's race when asked what went wrong in Italy.

Neither driver have officially secured a contract with the Silver Arrows for 2026 and whilst reports roll in over it being Russell who is holding up his deal, there is still no news on his rookie team-mate's chances of retaining his seat.

Rosberg breaks down worrying Wolff comments

Discussing Antonelli’s recent performances on the Sky Sports F1 podcast Nico Rosberg touched on Wolff's ‘underwhelming’ comments, explaining how they could spell trouble for the Italian youngster.

Having raced for Wolff's Mercedes team alongside Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, Rosberg certainly knows the warning signs for when the F1 boss isn't happy.

"It's a surprising one because at the moment the only choice you really have is just give Kimi the most time possible in the most calm way possible and that means also not criticising him publicly.

"And so this change of tone from Toto for the first time ever, usually there's a reason behind it. Toto is very calculated in his comments. Perhaps he's wanting to put some pressure on Kimi and his family to try a different approach, modify their approach, review their approach."

"But the fact of the matter is that Kimi is a generational talent. We all know that. But it's more difficult to him than we all thought so far and it’s a bit strange that it’s still so difficult."

"But the clock starts to tick at some point also."

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