Toto Wolff unhappy with Turn 1 precedent and points finger at Red Bull
Toto Wolff unhappy with Turn 1 precedent after Kimi Antonelli-Oscar Piastri incident.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes F1 is setting a bad precedent by allowing Turn 1 tactics at the start of races to go unpunished.
Polesitter Kimi Antonelli dropped from the lead to fourth at the start of the Miami Grand Prix sprint race when he ran wide in a battle with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at the first corner.
Antonelli claimed Piastri had pushed him wide at Turn 1 as he lost crucial early ground. The incident was noted by the stewards but they decided against investigating the matter further.
Mercedes team principal Wolff has taken issue with the current guidelines - which prioritise a driver on the inside being ahead at the apex.
“I don’t think we are setting good precedents,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
“You are just releasing the brake and then you are just pushing the other guy off. It’s for the junior formulas also, I think you need to leave a car’s space.
“It’s kind of crept in, Turn 1, you push them out. It’s Kimi’s sixth race and he’s learnt a lesson that this is what you need to do. I don’t entirely agree with that but that’s how we’ve allowed it for a few years now.”
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, a frustrated Antonelli sarcastically said it was “good to know” what is allowed at the first corner on the opening lap.
"It was a great opportunity; I'm a bit annoyed about lap one with how it went,” he said. "It seems like it's like this, that you can do basically whatever you want, so it's good to know for the future.
"Definitely it's a shame, but luckily we have a qualifying to bounce back."
Toto Wolff hits out at Red Bull’s ‘lack of judgement’
Antonelli’s race was ultimately ruined when the F1 rookie collided with Max Verstappen after he was unsafely released by his Red Bull crew in the pitlane.
The incident forced Antonelli to take evasive action which meant he had to continue down the pitlane and missed his own pit stop.
Antonelli ultimately finished outside of the points in 10th, while Verstappen was 17th after being hit with a 10-second time penalty.
Wolff accused Red Bull of a “total lack of judgement”, while Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner admitted “human error” was to blame.
“If it was the main race that would have been seriously annoying,” Wolff said.
“But I’m surprised the total lack of judgement there. It wasn’t even close with releasing without any security concerns. Somebody panicked there.”
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