Kimi Antonelli has detailed that he sought “clarity” from Mercedes boss Toto Wolff over the team’s enagagement rules after his Sprint clash with team-mate George Russell.
During the Saturday Sprint, Russell was leading Antonelli in the early stages, with the Italian initially trying to make a move on the Briton around the outside of Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 6, but was forced across the grass.
Later on the lap at Turns 8 and 9, Antonelli hit a bump on the inside and skated through the grass once again, this time losing a place to Lando Norris’s McLaren.
As he complained over the radio, Antonelli was informed by team principal Wolff to “concentrate on the driving please, and not on the radio moaning.”
After the race, and before qualifying, Wolff spoke with both drivers, with Antonelli making clear what he wanted from the talks.
“For sure, I think probably we just need a bit of clarity, and then once it’s clear, then it’s all going to be fine,” Antonelli told media, including ApexF1, after the Sprint.
“I think, definitely, I need to probably ask again. But the main thing for the team is that there’s no contact, that we don’t crash into each other, which in the end, was very close.
“That’s the most important thing for the team. Also, as a driver, you don’t want to crash into your own team-mate. We all want the best for, first of all, each other, but also for the team.
“So, for sure, we will clarify, and everything is going to be fine.
“We do meetings before races, and that’s what we say in the room. Then, of course, we race to win, and we try to do our best to defend our position.
“So of course, probably, I understood the significance of that meeting a bit differently. But obviously I need to recheck.
“Emotions were very high in the moment, and obviously I was very annoyed, but I just need to recheck, and for sure we’re going to talk about it, and we’re going to clarify that.”
Then, speaking hours later following qualifying, where he finished second to Russell, and the talks with Wolff, Antonelli simply surmised: “We had a discussion, and we clarified, and now it’s all good.
“So we’ve reviewed, and we had a chat with Toto, and it’s all good now.”
