Mercedes boss Toto Wolff praised Kimi Antonelli’s “unbelievable” efficiency on the Monaco Grand Prix, which he received from pole and secured his first Formulation 1 grand slam after main each lap of the race and securing the quickest lap.
Mercedes’ dominance has been plain to see this season, with the Silver Arrows profitable each grand prix thus far in 2026 with drivers Antonelli and George Russell. Nonetheless, it was anticipated to face a stern problem from Ferrari on the streets of Monaco.
This problem by no means materialised, and Antonelli received the grand prix from pole place on Sunday. Wolff himself admitted that the group was “stunned” by the younger Italian’s pace on Sunday, which noticed him rack up a 30-second lead earlier than the protection automobile got here out following Lance Stroll’s crash.
“We have been stunned ourselves about that pace,” Wolff stated after the Monaco GP. “He was, you understand, the laps he was pulling within the instances, they have been two seconds sooner than the McLarens, and a stable plus one second sooner than Ferrari. And it was like clockwork. Why that’s on a observe that we’d haven’t thought-about to be our strengths earlier than the weekend, I do not know.”
Regardless of the shock of his pace on Sunday, Antonelli’s dominance on race day shouldn’t come as an excessive amount of of a shock, as he placed on an “unbelievable” present in qualifying on the day before today to safe his fourth pole place in F1.
Kimi Antonelli scored his fifth successive F1 win in Monaco
Photograph by: Andrej Isakovic / AFP through Getty Photos
“In Monaco, much more than on many different circuits, you’ll want to be one with the automobile and actually within the zone,” Wolff added.
“That is additionally why on George’s facet, when you lose that confidence, it’s totally troublesome to be quick right here. And as for Kimi, we noticed in Q2 he was superb already, after which after we went into the final session, I assumed, that is going to be not possible.
“As a result of seeing Charles [Leclerc] flying into the swimming pool part, that’s the quickest I’ve seen a automobile coming in there and on the restrict sideways. After which Max [Verstappen] topped it.
“We have been tracing Kimi’s lap, we’ve got the stay GPS, and it seemed like he was simply not going to make it, after which out of nowhere, within the final two corners, he made the distinction and he was on pole, and searching on the onboard afterwards, it was unbelievable, it was unbelievable that lap.”
The efficiency over the weekend noticed Antonelli safe his first grand slam in F1, setting a brand new document for the youngest driver to take action at simply 19 years, 9 months and 13 days outdated. He eclipsed the earlier document set by Max Verstappen by virtually 4 years.
Kimi Antonelli leads Lewis Hamilton by 66 factors within the F1 standings
Photograph by: Anni Graf – Formulation 1 through Getty Photos
In consequence, he now leads the standings by 66 factors over second-place Lewis Hamilton and has a 68-point lead over team-mate Russell – who was extensively considered his closest rival for the 2026 crown.
The mountain Russell now has to climb follows a spate of dangerous luck that noticed him retire in Montreal and he was hit with a drive-through penalty in Monaco after his group did not serve a earlier penalty.
Regardless of the chasm, Wolff stays assured within the Briton’s capacity to maintain the struggle rolling on between the Mercedes pair.
“Luck swings in your path, after which generally it would not,” he added. “And it isn’t a query of not realizing the right way to drive, it is about having a automobile beneath that you simply really feel assured with, and you could go quick. And that is the very fact.
“Formulation 1 is about physics and never mystics. You do not unlearn the right way to drive, and you do not grow to be a miracle marvel driver [suddenly]. I am not harassed in any respect for his performances, as a result of we all know he is the most effective.”
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