Kimi Antonelli responds to Toto Wolff’s “underwhelming” criticism after Italian GP

Kimi Antonelli says he understands Toto Wolff’s criticism after labelling his display at the Italian Grand Prix as “underwhelming”.

Antonelli finished ninth at Monza, dropping behind Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto at the chequered flag due to a five-second time penalty.

It was another scruffy weekend for Antonelli.

He beached his Mercedes in FP2 at Monza, costing him crucial practice time.

Despite a promising qualifying session, a slow start dropped Antonelli behind Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.

That effectively ruined his race, leading to Wolff’s public criticism of Antonelli.

Wolff said: “Underwhelming this weekend. Underwhelming. You can’t put the car in the gravel bed and expect to be there. All of the race was underwhelming.

“It doesn’t change anything on my support and confidence in his future because I believe he’s going to be very, very, very good. But today was… underwhelming.”

It was the first time that Wolff has publicly criticised Antonelli.

The 19-year-old still hasn’t been announced as a Mercedes driver for next year, but his future for 2026 is thought to be secure despite his poor run of form.

Speaking ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Thursday, Antonelli was quizzed on Wolff’s comments.

“I think I pretty much understand his comments,” Antonelli told reporters in Baku.

“Me and Toto are always very open to each other and we talk to each other quite openly. I think it was mainly about the race. Qualifying was actually pretty good despite the off in FP2. In the race, especially on the hard tyres, I struggled a little bit.

“Also, you know, I did the mistake at the start. I think it was mainly related to the race, which I agree with the comments that wasn’t the best. I took it positively, as fuel to do even better for this weekend.”

Antonelli targeting “clean sessions”

Antonelli has scored points in just three of the last nine weekends.

He’s now dropped behind Albon in the drivers’ championship.

Looking ahead to this weekend, Antonelli stressed the importance of having “clean sessions”.

“First of all, just try to have clean sessions,” Antonelli added.

“In Monza, I went off in FP2 super early on and I ended up not doing long runs. I went completely blind into the race.

“I didn’t get to feel the car on high fuel at all, so it was a bit difficult as I had to learn in the moment. In the car, I struggled to find my rhythm so that wasn’t ideal.

“Of course, the speed in qualifying was much better at Monza, so hopefully we can carry this into this weekend as well. The main goal is to have clean sessions and get as many laps as possible in the bag, and deliver the job in qualifying and in the race.”