Wolff predicts more to come from Antonelli after ‘super well-deserved’ podium in Las Vegas

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes there will be plenty more to come from Kimi Antonelli in future after the Italian rookie bounced back from a disappointing Qualifying in Las Vegas with one of his best drives of the season.

Having started 17th on the grid, the 19-year-old climbed up the order to cross the line in fourth. While Antonelli dropped to fifth, thanks to a five-second time penalty he earned for a starting infringement, the subsequent disqualifications of McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri promoted him to the final podium spot.

Antonelli displayed raw speed and brilliant defensive skills to keep some fresher-shod cars at bay in Las Vegas, and he also showed good judgement as he managed to make a set of hard tyres last almost the entirety of the race. Following on from his performance, Wolff was in no doubt that the way the youngster is driving more than justifies the speed at which he was accelerated into an F1 seat.

“He's 19 years old, and we always said that the first season can be difficult,” explained Wolff after the race. "That's what we've seen at times.

“He's been parachuted in one of the big teams, hasn't known many of the Grands Prix, and the pressure that comes upon him. And that's what I expected in terms of trajectory. Next year is going to be completely different.

“The cars are new for all of the drivers [in 2026], not only for him. He's been at the circuits, he's travelled, he's experienced the pressures that come upon you when you're a driver. He's going to be one year older and more mature, so it's all according to plan at the moment.”

Antonelli was left disappointed with a Q1 exit on Saturday, as he failed to get the best out of a set of wet weather tyres that he still has limited experience with, given how rarely the extremes are used.

But his lowly grid slot translated into a soft tyre start, and Mercedes used the early VSC period to pit him for the hard rubber. From there, he was able to drive through the graining to remain competitive until the end of the race.

Antonelli managed to keep both Piastri and Charles Leclerc at bay for lap after lap, despite both having DRS assistance, and Wolff confirmed that the one-stop was not the initial plan for the Italian, who earned a five-second time penalty for a starting infringement, where his car moved fractionally before the lights went out.

“I'm not sure that we thought [a one-stop] was realistic at the beginning, but then he went quicker and quicker and quicker and cleared the graining, and at the end, a super well-deserved [P3], even with the penalty,” Wolff added.

“We couldn't spot anything on the clutch, nor anything that would have pointed us to an irregular start. But you know the FIA have sensors, so let's see what they said.

“For me, but I'm the only one who seemed to have seen that there was a little bit of a movement, but it wasn't definitely by releasing the clutch or getting off the brake pedal, so we shall see what the FIA says.”

Antonelli has now finished on the podium three times this season, with a best result of second. He also has one Sprint pole to his name, and his Qualifying in Sao Paulo showed that he is more than a match for his team mate over one lap when his confidence is high.

And Wolff confirmed that he “never questioned” his decision to bring Antonelli to Mercedes at such an early stage in his career:

“We’ve always said that we expected it to be full of ups and downs, a great moment of brilliance, and a moment where you want to tear your hair out.

“So, this is not the end of the development, this is still very early, very early stages, and I hope we're going to see more from Kimi next year, more solid performances, and in the many years to come.”