Toto Wolff has praised Kimi Antonelli\u2019s continued trajectory following the youngster\u2019s second consecutive victory in Japan, though the Mercedes boss also acknowledged that the team need to work on their starts following a \u201cbotched\u201d launch for the Italian.<\/p>\n
Having lined up in pole position ahead of team mate George Russell<\/a>, Antonelli<\/a> was slow off the line when the lights went out in Suzuka and dropped to sixth, with Russell also initially losing out.<\/p>\n Both drivers would go on to recover, leading Russell to battle McLaren<\/a>\u2019s Oscar Piastri<\/a> at the front \u2013 but the picture changed when a Safety Car was deployed due to a crash<\/a> for Haas<\/a>\u2019 Ollie Bearman<\/a> only one lap after Russell had pitted.<\/p>\n With Antonelli having provisionally been leading at the time, the Italian benefitted from making his stop under the Safety Car to re-emerge in P1. He went on to execute a solid restart and crossed the line with a margin of more than 13 seconds over second-placed Piastri, while Russell ended the race in fourth, having combatted various issues along the way<\/a>.<\/p>\n The result<\/a> means that Antonelli \u2013 who claimed his maiden win just two weeks ago in China \u2013 is now at the head of the Drivers\u2019 Championship<\/a> standings, making him the youngest-ever person to achieve this.<\/p>\n Asked afterwards by Sky Sports F1 about how Antonelli had controlled the race, Wolff<\/a> gave his assessment as he responded: \u201cYeah, absolutely. A botched start; these kids learn in the driving schools with automatics, so we need to teach them how you release a clutch \u2013 slowly, steadily and not too quick.\u201d<\/p>\n Reflecting further on what he deemed as a \u201cgrim\u201d launch from his driver, Wolff continued: \u201cI thought, \u2018Not again\u2019, because obviously we\u2019re not giving them the easiest of tools so our starts have generally been a bit on the mediocre side and we need to improve that, but in that case, the driver had massive influence of that car not going away.<\/p>\n \u201cLooked good with the wheelspin, but it isn\u2019t fast. But then in the race, he made his way up, and at the moment where it mattered he was really fast and we were able to extend his stint by that one lap, and that caused George\u2019s race to go belly-up and made the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Wolff went on to admit that he had \u201cmixed\u201d feelings in terms of whether he had been surprised by Antonelli\u2019s advantage over Russell throughout much of the weekend, with Russell having experienced problems with a set-up change made prior to Saturday\u2019s Qualifying.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mistake that was made collectively in Qualifying really put him on the back foot with the car \u2013 it transformed the car,\u201d said Wolff. \u201cFor pole position, between the two it was pretty narrow, and then obviously from Q1 it wasn\u2019t good enough anymore and he had to fight with that too today.<\/p>\n \u201cI think in equal cars it\u2019s going to be close as ever. But in the moment where it was about going fast, we had to decide to protect the position against [Charles] Leclerc<\/a> I believe, and Kimi was still putting in perfect times, so that made the difference, but I guess [Russell] had a car that wasn\u2019t perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n