F1 News: Kimi Antonelli handed Lewis Hamilton team orders by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff

Mercedes

Kimi Antonelli handed Lewis Hamilton team orders by Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff

Kimi Antonelli and George Russell are going for the title

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 1 June 2026 12:57 Updated: 17:16

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Mercedes F1 superstar Kimi Antonelli has revealed that Toto Wolff has spoken to him about Lewis Hamilton, and warned him about some of the Brit's actions.

Antonelli is currently in a drivers' championship battle with George Russell, and both drivers are chasing a maiden world championship title.

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In Canada, the pair fought hard with some thrilling wheel-to-wheel racing in both the sprint race and the main race, but that was cut short on lap 30 of the main race when Russell's battery gave in.

It meant that Antonelli could cruise to a fourth successive grand prix win, and take a 43-point lead in the championship, but their scraps during the two races were close to being over the limit for team-mates.

It wasn't too dissimilar to the scraps we became used to seeing at Mercedes between Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton and Rosberg had three consecutive drivers' championship battles, with Hamilton winning in 2014 and 2015, before Rosberg won in 2016.

Now, Antonelli has revealed that he has spoken with Wolff about the previous title battles between Hamilton and Rosberg, and what not to do up against Russell.

“The season is still long, we know that,” Antonelli told Gazzetta. “I’m happy because the team is doing brilliantly and I want to repay their commitment by giving my all.

“The battle with Russell this season will be tough, but we don’t want it to come down to hard-hitting clashes that put the team in a difficult position.

“I spoke to Toto Wolff about the battle between Hamilton and Rosberg in 2016; he told me about the good bits but also the bad, the things we mustn’t repeat. Because the team remains the priority.”

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What happened between Hamilton and Rosberg in 2016?

Hamilton and Rosberg were team-mates at Mercedes between 2013-2016, and when Mercedes became the dominant team in the sport in 2014, they were involved in three consecutive world championship battles.

But the 2016 season in particular is remembered for a number of fiery clashes between the drivers, most memorably at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix when they crashed into one another and earned the team zero points as a result, something that Mercedes boss Wolff recently revealed made him temporarily sack both drivers.

Or, there was the moment when Rosberg threw his cap at Hamilton in the cooldown room following the 2015 United States GP.

After winning the 2016 championship, Rosberg opted to retire from the sport at the age of just 31, and he now works as a broadcaster for Sky Sports F1 and Sky Germany. He revealed only a couple of years ago that he and Hamilton had repaired their relationship.

F1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes George Russell Toto Wolff Kimi Antonelli