Mercedes boss Wolff says long future for ‘cucumber cool’ Antonelli

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff believes Kimi Antonelli was born at “another level” to his peers and rivals – and can stay at the top in Formula One for 20 years.

Speaking after seeing the 20-year-old Italian claim his eighth win of the year at Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, Wolff was astonished again by Antonelli’s combination of precocious talent and unexpected maturity.

“I think he’s cool,” he said. “Sometimes for me, an inch too cool when he brushes the wall, five laps to the end, and comes on to the radio ‘check the car I think I brushed the wall’.

“You’re like: ‘Really? Again?’ Maybe that’s what helps keep him in the zone.”

A week ago Wolff, who oversaw six of Lewis Hamilton’s title-winning seasons and one by Nico Rosberg in 2016, had forecast that Antonelli would “walk on water” to win the Italian Grand Prix from 19th on the grid.

The young Italian duly picked his way through the field to record one of the most extraordinary wins in Formula One.

After his latest, more comfortable victory in Madrid, Wolff predicted that Antonelli would be around for a long time to come.

“He gets in the car and just drives,” he said.

“I feel his youth helps him a lot there. He’s 20. He could probably stay in the sport for 20 years.

“He’s so above all our expectations. He’s just going with the flow. And there’s a genetic factor, you’re born with cool, cool as a cucumber, or you’re not.”

Wolff said Mercedes had also made strong progress as a team and had no intention of easing off despite leading the teams’ title race by 145 points ahead of Ferrari while Antonelli heads team-mate Russell by 81 points.

“As a team we’ve made good steps forward,” he said.

“We don’t want to take our foot off the throttle and be complacent and party too early.

“This is motor racing. It’s a mechanical sport. Things can fail and we don’t look at the points.”

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