Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says it is "extremely satisfying" to see Kimi Antonelli's turnaround from last year as the Italian looks to secure the 2026 Formula 1 world title this weekend in Mexico.
A top nine finish in Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix would make Antonelli the sport's youngest world champion at 20 years old, breaking Sebastian Vettel's record by three years.
Antonelli joined Mercedes last year and struggled for the majority of his rookie season after a huge amount of excitement prior to his Formula 1 debut. Wolff recalls the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix as a particular low point, when Antonelli was in tears after being eliminated in Q1. "The many people that said last year after nine races without points, he shouldn't be in a Mercedes," said Wolff. "People in other teams that said, he shouldn't even be in Formula 1, the tears in Spa, in parc ferme. And all of that now is extremely satisfying to see what he's able to deliver, how he's working with the team, with Bono and yielding the results. But it wasn't an easy road."
Antonelli has won nine races this season and consistently had the upper hand on Mercedes team-mate George Russell throughout the year. Wolff believes the new 2026 cars, which provided a reset for the field, have benefitted Antonelli. "I think maybe it was to his benefit that the regulations were all new," he said. "And he just made it stick with his easiness, with his mindset, with his easiness of approaching things."
Wolff also described Antonelli's relaxed approach in Austin, where the young driver said he was going to enjoy the race and was not thinking about the championship at all. Wolff said he admired the young driver's ability to process and deliver results that few had anticipated, crediting Antonelli, his engineers and his environment.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing