Photo: Race Pictures

Antonelli agrees with Wolff's 'underwhelming' verdict: 'Always open'

19:27, 18 Sep

Updated: 20:00, 18 Sep

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byKada Sarkozi

Kimi Antonelli has reacted to Toto Wolff's 'underwhelming' assessment after the Italian Grand Prix.

Kimi Antonelli arriving to the Azerbaijan GP - Photo: Race Pictures

Talking to GPblog during the last Grand Prix weekend, the Mercedes CEO and team principal said Antonelli's performance was "underwhelming" at Monza.

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The young Italian explained he understands Wolff's words. "Toto and I are always very open with each other, and we talk to each other quite openly.

"I think it was mainly about the race. Qualifying was actually pretty good, despite the off in FP2.

"But then in the race, especially on the hard tyre, I struggled a little bit. Also, 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," the Mercedes rookie began about his second home Grand Prix of the season.

He then added that he "agrees" with his team boss' verdict. "Especially on the hard, I made a lot of driving mistakes.

"As I said before, I was struggling to find my rhythm and I was trying different things, but I ended up making a few mistakes.

"For sure, he doesn’t want that to happen again, because in the race I lost a lot of time.

"The conversation was pretty clear: he just wants me to have a clean weekend to regain the momentum I had. For example, in the first seven races of the season, because the European season has been quite tough, and now I’m really looking forward to the last part of the season again out of Europe—it’s always a bit more calm and I have a bit more time for myself.

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

Antonelli driving the Mercedes car at the Italian GP - Photo: Race Pictures

How can Antonelli keep his boss happy?

"First of all, just trying to have clean sessions," Antonelli said about how to keep Wolff happy with his performance.

"In Monza I went off in FP2 super early and ended up not doing long runs. I went completely blind into the race, didn’t get to feel the car on high fuel at all.

"It was a bit difficult because I had to learn in the moment.

"But the speed in qualifying was much better in Monza, so hopefully we can carry this into this weekend as well.

"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 qualifying and in the race," the youngster explained.

Verstappen backs Antonelli

At Monza, the four-time world champion explained it's 'normal' that Antonelli has more difficult stints in his debut campaign.

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"That you go and make mistakes in your first season, I think it's there. It's also what I like about him, it's not like he just takes it easy or whatever," Verstappen explained.

Antonelli currently sits eighth in the standings with 66 points. His best result so far is a podium finish at the Canadian Grand Prix, and earlier this season he claimed pole position for the Sprint in Miami.