{"id":887572,"date":"2026-09-08T04:58:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T04:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/887572\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T04:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T04:58:13","slug":"like-an-ai-agent-wolff-hails-antonellis-italian-gp-victory-in-title-charge-kimi-antonelli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/887572\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Like an AI agent\u2019: Wolff hails Antonelli\u2019s Italian GP victory in title charge | Kimi Antonelli"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toto Wolff has compared Kimi Antonelli to the greats of Formula One after the Mercedes driver\u2019s remarkable victory at the Italian Grand Prix where he came back to take the flag from 19th place<\/a> on the grid.<\/p>\n

The Mercedes team principal cited the win as similar to some of the best made by Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, and said that Antonelli would likely remember the race as one of the greatest of his career.<\/p>\n

Antonelli, 20 years old and in only his second season in the sport, delivered an exceptional drive to take victory in Monza, fighting his way through the field and ultimately beating his Mercedes teammate, George Russell, who had started in second on the grid, into the runner-up spot.<\/p>\n

Wolff, who had been insistent that bringing Antonelli into the team last season was the right decision despite questions being raised over his youth and relative inexperience, felt Antonelli had definitively proved himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen it with other great ones in the past \u2013 Lewis, who did it at some of the races \u2013 that\u2019s what he\u2019s\u00a0shown,\u201d said Wolff. \u201cThere\u2019s just no stopping when a driver and a car are one, there\u2019s nothing that can stop them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antonelli now leads the world championship by 66 points from \u00adRussell and 76 from Ferrari\u2019s \u00adHamilton with 10 meetings remaining and is in a commanding position in the title race.<\/p>\n

Kimi Antonelli, Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton in action during the Italian Grand Prix. Photograph: Claudia Greco\/Reuters<\/p>\n

In 2024 he had made his debut for Mercedes in the first free \u00adpractice at Monza and was left disappointed when he crashed out at the \u00adParabolica corner, leaving some questioning his\u00a0credentials. His win on \u00adSunday, Wolff felt, had finally put the \u00adincident\u00a0to bed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one that I will remember. It\u2019s how the circle closed,\u201d he said. \u201cTwo years ago in first practice it was probably the toughest moment in his career for himself and his family. A moment where everyone doubted, including himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen two years later, it\u2019s the \u00adbiggest glory, the biggest moment of his career that\u2019s probably going to be one of his biggest moments overall in the future. Even if he wins another 200 grands prix, that one will always remain special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antonelli endured a difficult first season in F1 last year as he learned the ropes but has come on with extraordinary alacrity. He now has seven wins this season, including a run of five in a row, is in a strong position to close out the championship and Wolff compared his ability to learn and improve to that of advanced artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

Kimi Antonelli celebrates with champagne on the podium at the Italian Grand Prix. Photograph: Claudia Greco\/Reuters<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came out after the winter out of the blocks in a way that no one saw coming,\u201d Wolff said. \u201cThe ability, how he processed last year. He\u2019s been at all the races, he\u2019s seen the pressure of the media, the attention that he gets. It\u2019s in a way that the system has been processed and saved.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why the results that we\u2019ve seen afterwards. But it is still surprising and amazing to see how quickly he develops. For me it\u2019s like an AI agent that continuously self-improves and learns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell, the more experienced driver at Mercedes, has a huge task ahead and admitted his teammate was all but uncatchable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is definitely Kimi who is in \u00adcontrol of it and he is deserving to be in control, I am not even thinking about a fight or a comeback,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is going to be exceptionally challenging to overcome that gap. I am sort of accepting that is what it is and I am going to try and enjoy it from here on in and win as many races as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toto Wolff has compared Kimi Antonelli to the greats of Formula One after the Mercedes driver\u2019s remarkable victory…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":887573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-887572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887572","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=887572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/887573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}