Mercedes F1 stars make 'trust' plea during Toto Wolff crisis talks

Mercedes

Mercedes F1 stars make 'trust' plea during Toto Wolff crisis talks

Toto Wolff held talks with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in Canada

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 31 May 2026 21:58

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Mercedes F1's deputy team principal Bradley Lord has revealed the details behind the talks between George Russell, Kimi Antonelli and Toto Wolff at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Russell and Antonelli went wheel-to-wheel for the win during the sprint race in Montreal, and the two cars briefly touched heading into Turn 1 on lap six, then again at Turn 8 where the Italian locked-up and went onto the grass.

Antonelli was quick to take to the airwaves to voice his complaints over his team-mate, and cried: "That was very naughty. He pushed me off!"

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As he continued to air his grievances over team radio, team principal Wolff was forced to intervene and quieten Antonelli, unimpressed about the public nature of his criticism.

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Wolff hosts sit-down chat

Speaking on Mercedes' Silver Arrows Radio Show, Lord unpacked the weekend, revealing what was said in that meeting between the drivers and their team boss.

“After the sprint [in Canada], there was a sit-down and a chat with Toto as well with the two drivers just talking about how the sprint had gone and really how did they want to race each other going forward," he explained.

“I think Kimi referred to it as a little bit like being called to the headmaster’s or the principal's office. But that again was actually a very constructive and very amicable conversation.

“The message from the drivers was really, really clear: ‘Trust us to race each other. That's what you've hired us to do. And we can do it and we're capable of doing it.’ And making sure that, as we said earlier, that racing is always happening with the interest of Mercedes foremost, not just the individual priorities of each driver.”

F1 Mercedes George Russell Kimi Antonelli