“The tram back home,” he said, “was a 45-minute journey to explain to a nine or 10-year-old girl why she had to leave class and why we had to go home early.”<\/p>\n
“And these things sit very deep in me,” he added.<\/p>\n
“I think everybody that is successful above average \u2013 whatever success means \u2013 there is some kind of driver behind it,” Wolff told Business Insider a few years ago. “That driver can be you trying to overcompensate for something, which could be an inferiority complex. All of these things can have a very low grade or a very high grade on part of your personality. It\u2019s about a humiliation or trauma that you have been confronted with in your life. I think these are very strong drivers for me.”<\/p>\n
Running a F1 team may not compare to those formative experiences, but it\u2019s still full of challenges \u2013 including personal ones. And it looks like putting Andrea Kimi Antonelli<\/a> back on the right track will require not only Wolff\u2019s management but also his personal skills.<\/p>\n Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG<\/p>\n Photo by: Mercedes-Benz<\/p>\n The Italian protege of Wolff is clearly going through a rough patch, and the project of mentoring him must hold special significance for Toto. Antonelli isn\u2019t just any Mercedes<\/a> junior, after all; Wolff has known him since he was 12, and it was largely his decision to fast-track him into F1 just six years later.<\/p>\n Leaving Antonelli with trauma surely wasn\u2019t part of the original plan when he decided to put Kimi in a seat vacated by a seven-time world champion. But there’s definitely some humiliation he\u2019s taking now.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n Antonelli isn\u2019t just a teenager; he\u2019s a professional athlete, already having achieved considerable success in his career. Yet, he\u2019s just finished his last exams in school and is now dealing with pressures that most 18-year olds of this world couldn\u2019t even imagine.<\/p>\n Handling the weight of being labeled the next superstar while going head-to-head with the guy who just outperformed that very seven-time world champion \u2013 all while the whole world is watching \u2013 is no easy task.<\/p>\n This season, on the contrary, was supposed to showcase Antonelli\u2019s outstanding abilities \u2013 the very traits that convinced Wolff of his exceptional talent. It was supposed to prove that his struggles in Formula 2 were merely circumstantial.<\/p>\n It wouldn\u2019t have been right to expect him to conquer F1 overnight, but the F1 world, while ruthless at times, can forgive a lot if there\u2019s evidence of brilliance.<\/p>\n George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes<\/p>\n Photo by: Zak Mauger \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n Yet, those flashes of brilliance have been few and far between. The Miami sprint pole was hugely impressive, as were his Melbourne drive and Canada podium. But for the most part, Antonelli\u2019s maiden year in F1 has been far more challenging than expected. And the most worrying part is the trajectory which, instead of showing progress, seems to be going in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n Antonelli\u2019s European season has been dreadful: the Italian teenager has failed to score points on tracks where he was expected to perform better. He\u2019s been on these circuits before, after all \u2013 some even in an F1 car, thanks to the extensive TPC program Mercedes set up for him.<\/p>\n The Imola weekend, perhaps, was just too overwhelming, with his classmates visiting him at the track, endless encounters with fans, selfies, and autographs. Then came the frustrating Monaco weekend with a crash in qualifying, and a DNF in Spain.<\/p>\n While Canada delivered a first-ever F1 podium, it proved to be an outlier, both geographically and in terms of performance. It was followed by a first-lap mistake in Austria, where he lost control of the car on the brakes approaching Turn 3 and collected Max Verstappen<\/a> in the process, and a bleak weekend in Silverstone \u2013 which ended not due to his mistake, but because Isack Hadjar<\/a> couldn\u2019t see him in torrential conditions.<\/p>\n In Belgium, he was somewhat invisible to all his fellow competitors.<\/p>\n A spin in sprint qualifying left him with P20 for the start, and on Saturday morning there was no progress. He ended up with P18 in the main qualifying, had to go for a pitlane start and a setup change. But Sunday’s race wasn’t much better.<\/p>\n Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes<\/p>\n Photo by: Andy Hone\/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the gap to George Russell<\/a> not only in points, but also in pure pace continues to grow.<\/p>\n On Saturday, Antonelli offered more insight into what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n “Since the European season, I\u2019ve been struggling to find confidence with the car, and I feel like I\u2019ve taken a backward step,” he said to the media after arriving in the mixed zone last of all drivers, even though he was one of the first eliminated from qualifying. “It\u2019s a difficult moment for me because I feel like I have no confidence in pushing,” he explained. “Yesterday, I tried to push a bit too much, and then I spun, and that kind of hurt my confidence even more. With the way I\u2019m driving, I\u2019m just increasing the problem. And that gives me even less confidence with the car.”<\/p>\n Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes<\/p>\n Photo by: Sam Bagnall \/ Sutton Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n This is a stark contrast to what should have happened after the Montreal podium. Sitting in the press conference room with Russell and Verstappen \u2013 his near-perfect team-mate and the persona Kimi was supposed to emulate \u2013 Antonelli spoke about how he\u2019s eager to carry the momentum. Arriving in Spielberg, he talked about how he “overcorrected” his approach after his FP1 crash in Monza last year and how he would now start building his weekends faster.<\/p>\n This was meant to be the turning point for Antonelli\u2019s season. But it turned the wrong way.<\/p>\n All of this is coming at exactly the worst time, given the chatter about Wolff\u2019s interest in luring Verstappen from Red Bull. While the paddock and media have almost always assumed it would be Russell vacating his seat for the Dutchman, should Max elect to change teams, Antonelli is well aware his contract only runs until the end of the year.<\/p>\n Even with Wolff\u2019s belief in his talent, performance can\u2019t be ignored \u2013 not from Antonelli, and certainly not from Russell, who\u2019s simply been outstanding this season.<\/p>\n But even if Wolff\u2019s conviction about Antonelli\u2019s exceptional potential remains unwavering, it\u2019s hard to imagine he hasn\u2019t, at least for a second \u2013 perhaps even last night \u2013 questioned not Kimi, but himself.<\/p>\n Has he made a mistake by rushing Antonelli\u2019s career? Has he let his past near-miss with Verstappen cloud his judgment and overlook the potential damage caused by putting his protege under such pressure so soon?<\/p>\n Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes<\/p>\n Photo by: Peter Fox \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n Has he already made an irreversible mistake?<\/p>\n There\u2019s still room for Plan B in case Verstappen does decide to sign with Mercedes. Wolff can still find Antonelli a cockpit with less pressure. Even sending the youngster to Flavio Briatore would seem like a more comfortable environment than the prospect of being continually grilled by Russell or potentially humiliated by Verstappen. But what would that do to Antonelli?<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n This period of going through a humiliating experience \u2013 which is undeniably what he\u2019s facing now \u2013 could still turn out to be a character-building exercise that helps Antonelli reach even greater heights in his future career. The pressure on Antonelli is enormous \u2013 and part of it must come from the desire to repay Wolff for the opportunity, to make Toto\u2019s job easier by answering difficult questions from Mercedes board members about his 18-year-old protege.<\/p>\n Whatever the future may hold for Antonelli, this is undoubtedly a pivotal moment in his career. One that could very well define it.<\/p>\n George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes<\/p>\n Photo by: Sam Bloxham \/ Motorsport Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n But as Wolff knows all too well, the path to greatness is rarely a straight line. Antonelli\u2019s current struggles may very well be the making of him, shaping a driver who emerges stronger, wiser, and more capable of handling the pressures that come with being a Formula 1 superstar.<\/p>\n Or they could mark a crossroads, where the weight of expectations simply proves too much.<\/p>\n In this article<\/p>\n Be the first to know and subscribe for real-time news email updates on these topics<\/p>\n Subscribe to news alerts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a lot to admire about Toto Wolff \u2013 and his openness about personal challenges tied to tough…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[3032,3272,49,48,578,15863,576,577,3024,932,1881,82],"class_list":["post-28847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-andrea-kimi-antonelli","tag-belgian-gp","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-f1-belgian-grand-prix-2025","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-george-russell","tag-lewis-hamilton","tag-mercedes","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Andrea](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753687452_786_andrea-kimi-antonelli-mercedes.jpg\")
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It would be unfair to make assumptions about what kept the Italian from turning up for over an hour, but it certainly couldn\u2019t have been an easy time. Being under the spotlight while feeling down is one of the burdens that come with the dream job of being an F1 driver.
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Perhaps it\u2019s even harder when you\u2019re labelled “the next big thing.” Especially when, in moments like this, you return to your motorhome room, which features a message from Lewis Hamilton<\/a> on the wall.<\/p>\n![\"Lewis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753687453_480_lewis-hamilton-ferrari-andrea-.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Andrea](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753687453_651_andrea-kimi-antonelli-mercedes.jpg\")
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Yet, going through such phases can just as easily leave irreparable damage.<\/p>\n![\"George](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753687453_216_george-russell-mercedes-andrea.jpg\")
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