Toto Wolff blasts F1 fans' conspiracy theory on Kimi Antonelli favouritism with savage putdown

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has ridiculed fans who believe that he and his team favour Kimi Antonelli over George Russell.

The Austrian gave absolutely no concessions to the standard platitudes like 'it's nice to have such passionate fans', instead calling those conspiracy theorists 'brainless' and saying he has 'zero respect' for them.

Speaking in Singapore this week, he went on to suggest that, instead of F1, those fans consider watching something like the Teletubbies, or 'some Mickey Mouses'.

Some fans online have complained about Russell's reliability issues being worse than his team-mate's – arguable at best, the pair have had two races each truly ruined by their cars – and yet more have about the Italian being the only one of the team's drivers running their upgrade package this weekend. That upgrade package has been notably troublesome since its introduction in Sepang.

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Mercedes boss mocks F1 conspiracy theorists

Other Russell fans have claimed that Wolff's body language and public statements show that he cares more about the championship leader's success.

On the complaints, Wolff said: "They're brainless, whoever thinks that. It's completely nonsensical. We've had it in the past with Lewis fans."

He continued: "I don't know what's going on. Do they think I have a button that says, 'George, engine failure now?'

"Or disadvantaging one driver against the other when we're fighting for the constructors' championship, when we've always had the mindset of providing everybody with equal material."

Wolff: I'm Satan, I've heard

"I guess this is maybe where social media goes today," he continued. "People hide behind their screens and then they lash out. There's a lot of polarisation going on.

"Sometimes I read what people write, I find it hilarious. These people really contribute to my own entertainment when they're abusing the team or myself. I'm Satan, I've heard. Overall, funny.

"Zero understanding and respect for people who come up with these things. Rather than watching Formula 1, they should do Teletubbies, or some Mickey Mouses."

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