Mercedes, how to manage Antonelli and Russell?
The start of the season has confirmed Mercedes‘ hopes. At Brackley, they knew they had designed a great car for the start of the 2026 regulations, and with three victories in the first three GPs, Toto Wolff’s team has already taken a commanding lead in both championship standings. What they probably didn’t expect is the amazing performance of Kimi Antonelli, leader of the World Championship after victories in China and Japan.
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From Miami onwards, another chapter opens, that of the internal management at Mercedes between Antonelli and George Russell, who seems to have underestimated the internal challenge. A sweet problem for Wolff, who is very skilled at giving confidence to the Bolognese driver and assigning him the “keys” to the car driven for years by Lewis Hamilton. For many, it was pure madness; now, the Austrian is laughing. And for Günther Steiner, this gamble is a revenge for the Mercedes team principal for not having signed Max Verstappen for the post-Hamilton era.
Steiner’s words
“With Kimi, Toto still thinks back to when he failed to secure Verstappen, and this is now a small revenge for him: he was thinking of signing the next superstar,” these are the words of the South Tyrolean to Drive to Wynn.
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“The management at Mercedes? Toto is above these things; he doesn’t favor one or the other. For him, the most important thing is that the team wins,” he added. “I don’t think he has to worry much about managing George; he can handle himself. And I think Toto treats them the same way; they are two guys who grew up at Mercedes.”
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