Toto Wolff fires ‘killer’ warning at Kimi Antonelli amid F1 title talk after Miami win

Kimi Antonelli leads George Russell by 20 points after his Miami win on Sunday.

Toto Wolff has again moved to mitigate the hype around Kimi Antonelli after his third straight win (Image: Getty)

Toto Wolff has urged flying teenage sensation Kimi Antonelli to stay grounded despite his Formula 1 heroics. A remarkable mature drive in Miami on Sunday saw the 19-year-old hold off defending champion Lando Norris to secure his third consecutive victory.

He’s now 20 points clear of George Russell who struggled all weekend on a Miami track he hates, but Mercedes boss Wolff has moved to remind Antonelli that his more experience team-mate is still a “killer”. The Austrian said: “The parents will keep him grounded… but we need to keep repeating the message: This is the long game. He has a killer of a team-mate who is extremely fast.

“Kimi can hopefully win many championships over 10 or 15 years – we don’t want to stumble now with these huge expectations on him.”

Much of the hype, Wolff worries, will come from Antonelli’s homeland. Despite Italy’s rich motorsport heritage, drivers representing the country which gave us Ferrari had only secured four race victories since 1992: Three for Giancarlo Fisichella and one sole win for Jarno Trulli.

Now they have a bona fide superstar driving for F1’s top team and who looks increasingly likely to be a serious title contender this year. And Wolff fears his teenage talent will be lionised along with tennis ace Jannik Sinner by the Italian public and press, especially after the national football team’s failure to qualify for this summer’s World Cup.

Jannik Sinner and Kimi Antonelli are Italy’s two great sporting hopes (Image: Getty)

He said: “The easiest bit is making sure that he keeps both feet on the ground within the team. His parents have done a great job in keeping him grounded. “The bigger problem is the Italian public. Now that they are not qualifying for football, it is all about Sinner and Antonelli. Sinner won in Madrid [on Sunday] so it is the two superstars and that is something that we need to contain.

“There are so many requests for his time. It’s on us to keep the handbrake on that. We just really need to stay calm here because such success for such a young man at this stage, all of Italy will be on him. Sinner and Antonelli, Antonelli and Sinner. We have won three Grands Prix, Sinner is world number one and has won many grand slams.”

Antonelli’s F1 debut last year brought a few promising flashes but no real indication of the level he has produced so far this term. Even Mercedes have been blown away by the progress their young talent has made. Wolff added: “It’s easier to calm someone down that is wild, because you won’t be able to accelerate a donkey.

“For me, that was his best race so far. It reminds me of his karting days – there were no mistakes. It’s astounding these few races. In a way it’s what we predicted as a team. There are up and down moments, moments of brilliance, moments where you tear your hair out and this year it’s all coming together. I don’t think any of us would have expected this kind of run. How he has been able to capitalise [on the car] is special.”