Antonelli accepts Wolff’s ‘underwhelming’ verdict

Sep.19 (GMM) Kimi Antonelli says he understands Toto Wolff’s post-Monza critique and is using it as motivation to tidy up his weekends.

Asked about his Mercedes boss labelling Antonelli’s Italian GP performance as “underwhelming,” the 19-year-old said: “Well, I think I pretty much understand his comment.

“It was mainly about the race – I made a mistake at the start. So I think it was mainly related to the race, which I agree wasn’t the best.

“But I took it positively – as fuel to do even better for this race weekend.”

Antonelli admitted a scruffy FP2 at Monza left him “blind” on long runs for Sunday. “First of all, just trying to have clean sessions,” he said of his target for Baku.

“The main goal is just to have clean sessions and get as many laps as possible in the bag and then deliver the job in quali and in the race.”

With Mercedes channelling more focus into 2026 now, Antonelli said others’ upgrade pushes have tightened the midfield. “Many teams are bringing quite a lot of upgrades,” he said. “That makes us have to be even more precise and perfect in some ways.

“Every mistake you make punishes you in a big way.”

As for Wolff’s guidance for this weekend, Antonelli summed it up simply: “He just wants me to have a clean weekend to regain the momentum I had.

“I’m really looking forward to clean weekends and getting back the momentum, and that’s what the team wants.”

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