​Mercedes Formula 1 team principal Toto Wolff believes Kimi Antonelli will not repeat the mistakes that cost him a stronger chance at winning the Austrian Grand Prix. The Italian led the world championship standings briefly after George Russell took pole and won at the Red Bull Ring, with Antonelli starting from pole in the race and closing on Russell and Max Verstappen in third before a late surge.
Antonelli missed his pole opportunity by backing off on his final qualifying lap, misreading a double-waved yellow flag as a single-waved yellow flag due to Verstappen’s crash. Russell correctly interpreted the flag and secured pole after his final lap. In the race, the 19-year-old was overly aggressive at the start, trying to pass Charles Leclerc, which cost him a position to Verstappen and dropped him to fifth. Wolff summed up the laps as the moment the race slipped away, noting that Antonelli’s “full attack mode” led to missed brake points at Turn 1, Turn 3, and Turn 4, while underscoring that Antonelli’s tendency to go all out around Russell is exactly what he expects from him. He added that the confusion over yellow flags would not recur, both in qualifying and the race, describing it as a momentary lapse rather than a future pattern.
After the race, Antonelli acknowledged his mistakes, admitting he was too excited in the opening laps and that his driving quality suffered. He noted he initially struggled with braking in the first stint on the mediums, losing several seconds to errors, but felt stronger after changing tires. He attributed the late improvement to resetting and regaining pace, but lamented joining the leading duo too late. Antonelli explained that his strong Friday practice sessions had left him tense going into qualifying, which contributed to a loss of intensity and a slightly off performance. He believed with slight adjustments, he could have achieved second place, just behind Russell. The team and supporters will be hoping he avoids such errors in the future as he continues to develop.