Toto Wolff praises Max Verstappen for ‘making everyone look silly’ at Italian GP

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has lauded Max Verstappen for making “everyone else look silly” at the Italian Grand Prix.

Verstappen stormed to his third F1 victory of the year, winning the race by over 19 seconds.

Monza was a welcome return to form for Red Bull, having not won a grand prix since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May.

The four-time world champion broke Lewis Hamilton’s 2020 lap record in qualifying to take pole ahead of Lando Norris.

Despite losing the lead on Lap 2, after being told to do so for cutting the chicane on the first lap during his battle with Norris, Verstappen re-took the lead two laps later and dominated the race.

Verstappen’s final 19-second advantage was exaggerated by McLaren’s sub-optimal strategy of stopping late and waiting for a possible Safety Car before switching to soft tyres.

Speaking to reporters after the race, Wolff was keen to praise Max Verstappen, the driver he was desperate to sign for 2026.

“Today, one driver made everyone else look silly,” Wolff said.

“They really need to ask themselves what he’s doing differently. Overall, we weren’t competitive over the weekend. A fifth and a ninth place are absolutely not satisfactory.

“I don’t think, with our current set-up, we have a car that we can consistently drive onto the podium. But Kimi made too many mistakes.

“He simply needs to put together a solid weekend. Then he’ll be racing on equal terms with Leclerc and George. And with George, things also weren’t completely smooth today.”

Mercedes saw their cars finish fifth and ninth respectively.

George Russell pushed hard in the opening phase of the race to get ahead of Charles Leclerc for fourth.

However, due to Ferrari’s superior straight-line speed, Leclerc remained ahead.

Reflecting on Russell’s race, Wolff said: “I think he pushed a bit too hard trying to stay close to Leclerc.

“When the cars are so close together, overtaking is already very difficult. And because he was pushing so much, he destroyed his tyres.”

Antonelli needs a “clean” weekend in Baku

Kimi Antonelli endured another tough weekend.

He spun off in FP2, beaching his Mercedes in the gravel trap.

This mistake put him on the back foot for the remainder of the weekend.

A slow start ruined his chances of finishing seventh, losing out to Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto.

Antonelli was handed a five-second time penalty for forcing Albon off the track during their late-race battle.

“It started off difficult for him, ending up in the gravel,” Wolff added.

“Very unfortunate, similar to Zandvoort. Now he needs to deliver a clean weekend in Baku. There’ll be less pressure there, and it’s a track he knows. He needs to unleash his killer instinct.”