Wolff warns his drivers: 'We would not be a millimetre hesitant to put the handbrake on'

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were once again allowed to race freely in Montreal, with the two title contenders battling hard both in the Sprint - where they narrowly avoided contact - and again during Sunday’s Grand Prix through a thrilling sequence of overtakes and counter-overtakes. In the end, however, the Brit’s W17 suffered a technical failure while leading, opening the door for Antonelli to claim his fourth consecutive victory.

That freedom to race was also made possible by Mercedes once again showing a clear pace advantage over the rest of the field in Canada. The Silver Arrows were able to let their drivers focus entirely on fighting each other without any serious threat from behind, something further reflected by the sizeable gap separating Antonelli from the Hamilton-Verstappen duo at the chequered flag.

Speaking to GPblog among other media, Wolff stressed that the championship fight between his two drivers is now fully underway, admitting there is an enormous amount at stake both individually and for Mercedes as a team. The Austrian acknowledged that allowing them to race each other so aggressively can sometimes be uncomfortable from the pit wall, but insisted this is exactly the kind of battle both drivers have been prepared for.

At the same time, Wolff made it clear Mercedes would not hesitate to intervene if the situation started compromising the team’s result or if too much time was being lost to rivals behind, warning that the team would immediately “put the handbrake on” if necessary.

After already going wheel-to-wheel during the Sprint, the two title rivals resumed their fierce battle in Sunday’s race as well, repeatedly coming close to contact in an intense fight for the lead. Wolff admitted Mercedes experienced mixed emotions throughout the duel, explaining that while the team was thrilled to watch its drivers race each other so hard, there was also constant concern over the risk of throwing away a crucial result: "We half enjoyed watching how they fought it out. Every time we thought about saying, 'we have had enough for the moment', the next two laps were fast again."

The Austrian praised Antonelli for delivering a superb drive and fully deserving the victory, while also expressing disappointment for Russell, whose race ended in retirement while leading what could have become an iconic intra-team showdown.

Wolff also revealed Mercedes was carefully monitoring the situation throughout the race and was prepared to intervene if necessary. According to the team boss, the decisive factor was the comfortable gap to the chasing pack, which allowed the Silver Arrows to let their drivers continue fighting freely without immediately stepping in with team orders: "As long as we maintained that gap, it was okay watching it, but it can obviously go wrong. If it was closer behind us, we would jump in."