Totowolf, the principal of the Mercedes team, described Kimi Antoneri’s performance at the Italian Grand Prix as “overwhelming” and believes his driver needs to free himself from previous mistakes.
Antonelli spun into gravel during his second practice session at Monza on Friday, losing long-term data at key points over the weekend. While he qualifies just behind his teammate George Russell, Antonelli received a penalty for getting Alex Albon back on track and was warned of a trajectory restriction violation as he was classified more than 20 seconds behind Russell in 9th place.
“This weekend I’m overwhelmed and overwhelmed,” Wolf said. “You can’t expect to put your car in a gravel bed and be there. All the races were overwhelming.
“I believe he will be very, very good, so nothing will change in terms of my support and confidence in his future. But (Monza) was… overwhelming.”
Wolf believes Antonelli is held back by some of the other mistakes he made during his rookie season, pointing to Pitstop doing six laps to pass Pierre Guthrie after a hangover with Charles Leclerc a week ago.
“I think a clean weekend means not having too much of the trauma of a previous mistake in the next session or the next weekend, because it’s a baggage,” Wolf said. “If you were there before the previous session or you weren’t attacking a driver like Gasly because you had this situation with Leclerc, you’re not going to attack the horns violently.
Antonelli believes that, as Mercedes struggles with consistency despite progress in rear suspension, Wolf, a troublesome area for drivers, requires Italian rookies to perform at a higher level.
“I’ll just let him go (the key),” Wolf said. “He’s an incredible driver, he has this incredible ability and natural talent. He’s a race driver. That’s all. But you need to get rid of the ballast.”