Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner has heaped praise on Mercedes boss Toto Wolff for allowing his drivers, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, to fight it out on track at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The 2026 F1 season has introduced a new wave of regulations to the championship, which has coincided with a dominant start for Mercedes. The Brackley outfit has won every grand prix so far. While Russell picked up the first victory of the season at the Australian Grand Prix, it has been Antonelli who has won every grand prix since.
The Italian driver became the youngest driver to lead the championship and has also become the first driver to win his first four grands prix consecutively, with wins in China, Japan, Miami and Canada.
The Canadian Grand Prix weekend offered fans the first glimpse of a tense intra-team battle in both the sprint race and grand prix. Although frustrations bubbled over during the sprint race, with Antonelli fuming on the team radio that his team-mate had forced him off the track, all seemed to have been resolved by the time the grand prix began on the Sunday.
The pair had an exciting and tense battle for the first 30 laps of the grand prix before Russell was forced to retire from the race. While many argued that if the drivers had been left to fight until the chequered flag, it would have likely ended in a crash, Steiner championed the decision during The Red Flags Podcast.
"Toto Wolff," he said when asked who his 'Rockstar' of the week was. "And you know why? Because he let them race. He didn't interfere, didn't say anything, just let them out there. And you have no idea. I think the rockstar should be the person who is cleaning his pants because he must have been there s****ing, but fair play to him."
Asked whether there would have been conversations behind closed doors following Antonelli's sprint race frustrations, the former Haas chief added: "I don't know. I think for sure Kimi and George spoke about it. I'm pretty sure about it, but I don't think it helped a lot because, on Sunday, they were at each other like on Saturday.
"So, yes, I'm sure. But for Toto not to put an end to it was remarkable, good in my opinion."
