24/05/2025 10:00
Toto Wolff has acknowledged how the demands of Kimi Antonelli's
first home race in F1, at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, left the
18-year-old burnt out. The Mercedes team principal, who was not at
Imola, highlighted how the Italian driver was "toast" as early at
Friday, amid the rigours of a strenuous schedule and a myriad of
commitments. Antonelli invited school mates to the circuit, just
one of a host of other personal engagements, but struggled to
perform on track. Having qualified a disappointing P13, he retired
from the race. Whilst he was faring better in the grand prix -
until reliability issues struck - Antonelli conceded the weekend
was his "worst in terms of performance" when speaking to media,
including RacingNews365 , after the premature end to his afternoon.
It also prompted Jacques Villeneuve to call out Antonelli's
approach to the weekend in Italy, saying the F1 paddock is "your
office" as a driver and that you "don't bring friends or family to
your office" whilst talking on Sky Sports F1 . Ahead of the round
in Monaco, Antonelli reflected further on what will likely be his
only 'true' home race for the foreseeable future, with Imola's
contract with F1 expiring at the end of the season - although Monza
will continue to hold the Italian Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver
stated how "very intense and very demanding" it was for him
mentally and that he "didn't do a good enough job" conserving his
energy with all the surrounding distractions. "I could feel
mentally, I was not as present as I usually was, and I wasn't as
focused," he said before later adding: "I realised too late into
the weekend that I was wasting too much energy." Whilst he did not
place any blame at the feet of his driver, it was a sentiment Wolff
echoed when asked about Antonelli's round in Imola and if Mercedes
will help to protect him from similar issues moving forward. "I
think this is a learning process," the Austrian told media
including RacingNews365 . "We concluded last year that we've made a
mistake in maybe exposing him in Monza in his first ever running in
FP1 to the local crowds, and he wanted to perform particularly
well. "And I think that Imola was probably the perfect storm
because it's where he lives. It's his home track, school, family,
local football club, all the people that helped throughout his
career. "Everybody wanted to have a little bit of Kimi. And you
know, even as early as Friday, he was just toast. And I spoke to
him on Saturday. He said: 'I'm out of energy of all of this.'"
Words of wisdom Wolff shared the guidance he imparted to Antonelli
to help his driver shield himself from the expectations placed upon
him. He also maintained how the Imola weekend was handled is a
"mistake" the team will not make again. "And it's clear, he's
young, he wants to say thank you to everyone that participated,"
the 53-year-old added. "He doesn't want to be unfriendly to
friends, family, fans, all them around. "And, you know, it's also,
like, what I... the guidance I gave to him [is]: At a certain
stage, you need to be... you need to protect yourself, hide
yourself in your room, in the engineering room on the Sunday, and
everything else just comes second. "And I think all of us together,
the family, we realised that that was too much, and that is a
mistake we will not repeat."
