Team principal Toto Wolff has expressed his thoughts on the final laps of the 2026 Chinese GP, the celebrations on the podium with Lewis Hamilton, the impact the Ferraris battling each other had on the Mercedes drivers, and his comments over team radio as Kimi Antonelli secured his maiden F1 victory and the Brackley-based outfit brought home their second 1-2 finish of the season.
Having become the youngest Grand Prix polesitter on Saturday, Antonelli lost the lead to Hamilton on the opening lap in Sunday’s race. However, he retook the position before the end of Lap 2 and held onto it for the remaining 54 laps.
Antonelli made his only pit stop on Lap 10 under the Safety Car and gradually built a comfortable gap to his teammate. Despite a hairy moment after running deep at the Turn 14 hairpin with four laps to go, he crossed the line 5.5 seconds clear of George Russell and became the second youngest winner of a Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, Russell was only able to set one flying lap in the final segment of qualifying due to a car issue. He still managed to set the second-fastest time and lock out the front row for Mercedes.
Although Russell lost two positions off the line, he managed to reclaim second place by Lap 4. Thereafter, he swapped his yellow-walled tyres for the hard compound under the Safety Car and rejoined the track in P4.
Unfortunately, Russell struggled to generate heat in his fresh hard tyres at the Safety Car restart and suffered from a lack of grip, resulting in him losing positions to the Ferrari duo. Nonetheless, he eventually managed to overtake the squabbling red cars and take the chequered flag in second.
How the final laps of the 2026 Chinese GP were for Wolff
Speaking in a print media session after the F1 race, Toto Wolff opened up about whether the last few laps of the 2026 Chinese GP were nerve-wracking, as Antonelli pursued his first victory in F1.
The Mercedes boss claimed that he wasn’t particularly anxious since both Antonelli and the team appeared to have everything under control. Referring to the Italian’s massive shunt during his first FP1 outing at Monza, he also explained that the young driver still gives in to his impulses when it comes to continuously chasing the fastest lap times.
Additionally, Wolff reflected on his conversation with Antonelli’s race engineer Peter Bonnington and revealed that the 19-year-old grasped the necessity to calm down and take control after missing the braking point at the hairpin on Lap 53. At the same time, he maintained that the final laps of Sunday’s race felt pretty good in spite of the error from the Mercedes driver.
“Not to be honest. When you see, when there is a groove and all systems look well, at the end it was okay.
“It’s just Kimi [Antonelli] can’t help himself, another fastest lap and another fastest lap. We know the pattern from Monza, from his first FP1. So, [I] said to Bono [Peter Bonnington], ‘come on, let’s tell him to calm down’. [Bono said] ‘I think he’s in a groove’, I said ‘yeah, he may be in a groove, but we don’t want him to lose this race’.
“He missed the braking and said, ‘[Well], okay, now you calm down’. So, yeah, it felt good.”
What it was like to see Antonelli and Hamilton together on the podium for the first time
The Shanghai International Circuit saw not only Antonelli claim his maiden F1 victory but also Hamilton secure his first Grand Prix podium for Ferrari on Sunday.
Asked how it felt to witness the past and the present of the Silver Arrows share the rostrum for the first time at the 2026 Chinese GP, Toto Wolff hailed it as one of the sport’s perfect moments. Besides, he reminisced about having experienced one previously during the 2014 F1 season, which ushered in an unprecedented era of Mercedes dominance.
Noting Russell’s contribution to securing another 1-2 finish, Wolff specifically stated how memorable it was to have Bonnington present on the podium, given his long-standing relationship with Hamilton and the role he currently plays in the development of Antonelli as a driver. Furthermore, highlighting the seven-time world champion’s delight upon beating Charles Leclerc for a podium finish, he admitted that it was wonderful to see the three douse each other with champagne.
“The first one, there’s these few moments that are just perfect in Formula 1. And I had one of them in 2014.
“And maybe that was now the second one, looking at the podium, Kimi winning his first Grand Prix, doing a one-and-two with George [Russell], whose race was affected, obviously, at the beginning.
“Lewis [Hamilton] third, Bono right in the middle of them. He’s been with Lewis for so many years, and he’s been part of Kimi’s success, and growing him and developing him. And then these three spraying champagne on each other on the podium, Lewis having beaten Leclerc, so he’s in a good mood.
“I mean, this was just great to see.”
Wolff on how Ferrari teammates’ battles impacted his drivers at the 2026 Chinese GP
With regard to whether the Ferraris battling each other had any positive impact on the finishing positions of the Mercedes drivers at the 2026 Chinese GP, Toto Wolff responded, “Yeah, of course, that helped.”
Although he touched on how the intense on-track battles between Hamilton and Leclerc had allowed Antonelli to create a solid gap to the rest of the field, the Austrian surprisingly claimed that the squabbling wasn’t beneficial to Russell’s race.
Nevertheless, Wolff commended the Ferrari drivers for delivering a great spectacle and added that the hard yet fair racing was entertaining to watch.
“Kimi was able to pull that gap with these two fighting. That wasn’t the best for George either, but it was at least a good show to watch.
“And it was fair and square, hard fighting. It was good from the two of them.”
Wolff addresses his comments over team radio at the end of the race
As Antonelli took the chequered flag and claimed his first F1 victory at the 2026 Chinese GP, Toto Wolff made a few pointed comments about the criticism the 19-year-old and the team had received prior to congratulating him over team radio.
The Mercedes team principal said, “He’s too young. We shouldn’t put him in a Mercedes, put him in a smaller team. He needs the experience; look at the mistakes he makes. Here we go, Kimi. Victory!”
Addressing the aforementioned remarks, Wolff disclosed that the message was aimed at the people who had rebuked the team for taking a chance on the inexperienced yet talented Antonelli.
Labelling Sunday’s results as a small revenge, the 54-year-old was nonetheless pragmatic enough to acknowledge the fickle nature of the sport and conceded that the public perception of Antonelli can do a quick U-turn if he commits a mistake in the next race.
“Well, certainly not you, because you’ve been the number one promoter of Kimi since many years.
“You know, when things go bad, there are the people that come out and say that was a bad decision and Mercedes took too much risk. And it was never really harsh criticism because people recognise the talent that he has. But there were many voices within the sport and outside that said that was a mistake to do.
“So, it’s nice to have a little revenge. But, obviously, it’s one race win. In this sport that we live in, it’s manic-depressive. Today, it’s great. In two weeks, we are in Japan and he puts it in the wall and people say he’s too young.”
Wolff’s request to F1 media after the second race of 2026
In the print media session held after the Chinese GP, Toto Wolff also emphasised the importance of staying grounded as Antonelli gains more experience and further grows as an F1 driver in 2026. Moreover, he referred to the intense media scrutiny the youngster found himself under at Imola last year and urged the Italian media to be considerate in that regard.
“So, I think we need to just keep the feet on the ground. You need to write that in Italy also.
“Yeah, please help him. Because, remember last year? Grande Kimi and whatever it was and then came Imola and there was an avalanche of pressure.
“There shouldn’t be any pressure at the moment, so… Piedi su terra. How do you say? Piedi per terra.”
