Toto Wolff has outlined how Mercedes will ensure that Kimi Antonelli and George Russell can battle it out for position, whilst prioritising the team’s mission to win both titles this season – stating that his drivers “have been trained for” such a scenario.
The Mercedes duo have emerged as the clear frontrunners of the campaign, giving Wolff the dilemma of treating Antonelli and Russell fairly and letting them duel or reining them in should they risk jeopardising team success with their on-track clashes.
Their intra-team contest came to a head over the Canadian Grand Prix weekend as the two team mates – who locked out the front row for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix – got stuck into multiple fierce battles for the race lead.
Initially labelling their tussle – which was cut short when Russell retired with a power unit problem on Lap 30 – “just acceptable” post-race, Wolff later said: “I think we want to look at the pictures today and have [the drivers] come to the right conclusions in terms of saying, ‘do you think that was the level of fighting you think is right? And if that is, why is that?’
“We will say why we think one or two situations could have been avoided, and ‘what do you want to do to mitigate it?’ But definitely, more than ever, this fight is on.
“There’s so much at stake for both. There’s so much at stake that you have to, as a team, as uncomfortable as the ride is sometimes, you have to accept that this is the fight they’ve been trained for.
“Equally, if there was a situation where we believe the team’s points are at risk of losing, or there was a situation where we were losing so much time to our competitors behind, then we would not be a millimetre hesitant of putting the handbrake on.”
Wolff also noted that some of the radio messages exchanged with Antonelli in the heat of the moment need to be examined – the Italian repeatedly called for Russell to be penalised for allegedly running him off the track during the Sprint, prompting the team boss to intervene with an order to stop “moaning”.
The Mercedes boss said: “Obviously, when you listen to some of the radio comms, I think there’s room for improvement. Wearing your heart on your sleeve is right, but concentrate on the driving, that’s important. But other than that, I think they behaved like race drivers that race for a championship, so I wouldn’t be able to see a fault in that.
“I think when you ask them to tidy it up, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be stopping it. You actually allow the racing, but you’re saying, you’re on watch.
“We had a few situations that could have ended in DNFs, and as a driver, you are very well aware where you want to place your car and how much risk you want to take.”
