Toto Wolff warned Kimi Antonelli not to be carried away by the fervour of the Italian public as he put his young driver alongside tennis “superstar” Jannik Sinner.
Antonelli’s victory at the Miami Grand Prix was his third in a row, becoming the first Italian to achieve that since Alberto Ascari in 1952, as he overcame reigning champion Lando Norris.
The 19-year-old will head to Montreal in three weeks’ time 20 points clear of Mercedes team-mate George Russell as he again underlined his credentials as a genuine title contender.
Antonelli’s three wins – his first in F1 – have come on the same day that Sinner clinched victory in Indian Wells, Miami and Madrid.
Wolff, who has overseen seven drivers’ championship wins, believes there is fierce pressure on his blossoming star as he put him alongside world number one Sinner.
“The easiest bit is making sure that he keeps both feet on the ground within the team, his parents have done a great job in keeping him grounded,” Wolff said.
“The bigger problem is the Italian public. Now that they are not qualifying for football it is all about Sinner and Antonelli. I think Sinner won in Madrid so it is the two superstars and that is something that we need to contain.
“There are so many requests for his time. It’s on us to keep the handbrake on that.
“We just really need to stay calm here because such success for such a young man at this stage, all of Italy will be on him.
Rewriting History 🏆@janniksin becomes the first man in history to win five consecutive ATP Masters 1000 titles 👏#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/QhXVK2OMLH
— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 3, 2026
“Sinner and Antonelli, Antonelli and Sinner. We have won three Grands Prix, Sinner is world number one and has won many grand slams.”
Wolff was speaking in the Mercedes hospitality on the pitch at Hard Rock Stadium, where Antonelli’s father Marco was among those gathered.
Addressing him directly, Wolff said: “The risk is that he is being carried away too quickly. The parents will keep him grounded, right Marco?”
Marco Antonelli, himself a racing driver, replied: “Right!”
Wolff continued: “The family and us – you’re the first one actually Marco to calm him down even when he is winning – we need to keep repeating the message.
“This is the long game, he has a killer of a team-mate that is extremely fast. We want to play the long game, he can hopefully win many championships over 10 years, 15 years, we don’t want to stumble now with these huge expectations on him.”
Antonelli endured an up-and-down debut season with Mercedes in 2025, having been chosen to replace Lewis Hamilton.
There was even talk that he might not last the season but Mercedes and Wolff remained calm, with his exuberance and odd mistake going hand-in-hand with raw speed.
“It is easier to calm someone down that is wild because you won’t be able to accelerate a donkey,” Wolff added.
“For me that was his best race so far. It reminds me of his karting days, there was no mistakes.
“It is astounding these few races. In a way it is what we predicted as a team. There are up and down moments, moments of brilliance, moments where you tear your hair out and this year it is all coming together.
“I don’t think any of us would have expected this kind of run. How he has been able to capitalise (on the car) is special.”
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