Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has confessed that Kimi Antonelli’s first-ever grand prix win came earlier than he thought after the Italian was victorious in China. The 19-year-old beat team-mate George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to continue his fine start to the season.
Antonelli became the second youngest grand prix winner in history, with only Max Verstappen, who won for the first time aged 18 at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, finishing first at a younger age than the Italian. He fought back tears and struggled for words during his post-race interview after such a major milestone.
He said: “Thank you so much. I’m about to cry to be honest, thank you so much to my team, as they help me to achieve this dream…
“I really wanted to bring Italy back on top and we did today, I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack towards then end with the flat spot, but it was a good race, a good race. It was not an easy start, probably I covered a bit too much on the inside and gave too much room to the Ferrari, but the pace was good and we managed to bring it home.”
Wolff joined Antonelli in talking up the achievement by the Italian in his post-race interview. “It’s been a while that I’ve been in Formula 1, but that podium now was probably one of the best moments I’ve ever had,” he said.
“The three of them, with Bono right in the middle who was with Lewis forever and then took over Kimi, making him into what he is today… It’s rarely that I’m overwhelmed, but that was such a moment.”
The Mercedes chief was then asked if Antonelli’s win in just the second race of the season came earlier than he had expected. “I think it’s come earlier than I thought,” he replied.
“Last year we said it was going to be a difficult year with many ups and downs, mistakes. And then bang, the second race. He controlled it from the front and drove very well today. He’s probably a little bit better than the trajectory that I thought.”