Wolff had to warn Antonelli in Monaco: 'Bono told him, then I repeated it'

For the first time since 2004, an Italian driver was victorious in Monaco after Antonelli completed a stunning performance on the streets of Monte Carlo. The youngster confidently led the entire Grand Prix, and did well to keep the lead on both starts, which were previously an issue for the Mercedes talent.

Speaking to Motorsport IT after the race, Mercedes CEO and team boss Wolff was in awe of the youngster. "Yes, what Kimi can do is special. He has full control of the car and his emotions. He doesn't lose his cool if the person behind is only a second and a half behind, because he's capable of changing pace and increasing the gap. It's truly incredible," the Austrian began.

However, Wolff also highlighted that, together with race engineer Peter Bonnington, they had to ask the current championship leader not to push any further. The team boss explained: "Bono told him first, then I repeated it. I added to Bono, "You have to tell him he's half a minute ahead." Peter repeated the message, but Kimi kept doing those times, so we thought maybe that was his pace."

It was also the first time since 2019 that a Mercedes driver was victorious in the Principality. "It's true, it's always been a bit of a challenge for us: we may have often come close, but the last time we won was in 2019. So, returning to victory was a great feeling."

Thanks to his victory, Antonelli once again expanded his lead comfortably in the battle for the drivers' title. As his teammate, George Russell, has failed to score a single point after receiving a drive-through penalty, the Briton is now only third in the standings. Lewis Hamilton is currently sitting in second place, 66 points behind the Italian driver.

While Antonelli achieved a stunning victory, Russell had a difficult day. The Austrian also discussed his mixed emotions to GPblog, among others, after the race. He commented: "I haven't gone to a podium for 10 years because it's always difficult to balance between one side of the garage being happy, the other one not. Today, I couldn't avoid it because the board member that I wanted to go has said he needs to catch a flight, and then the team said, 'You've got to go, it's the home race.' While standing there, I'm always with mixed feelings. The Montreal race was his to win, we let him down. Today, we probably could have had a podium if not for the penalty, a mistake."

Marco Antonelli, the father of Kimi, is happy with his son's progress, but believes Max Verstappen is still on a different level at the moment.

Speaking to Formule 1 Magazine, he explained: "Max is a nice guy with a friendly character. He is also a friend of ours. We both also run a Mercedes GT3 team. But it is still too early to compare Kimi with Max. Of course, there is a clear similarity: they are both fast. On his own, Max is already a four-time world champion, while Kimi still has a long way to go to achieve what Max has already achieved. I hope he comes close to that one day, but at this stage of his career, Max is mainly an example for him."

He added: "It's nice to see that they have a good relationship. Max and Kimi speak to each other almost every weekend. At the same time, it is clear that Max is on another level as a driver at the moment."