‘Nothing would have stopped him’ – Wolff heaps praise on Antonelli for ‘amazing’ charge to victory at Monza

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff hailed Kimi Antonelli for an “amazing drive” from P19 to win the Italian Grand Prix, arguing “there was nothing that would have stopped him” throughout Sunday’s race.

Antonelli started at the rear of the grid due to a power unit change but impressively worked his way up the order across an action-packed encounter – showing consistently strong pace and pulling off a series of clean overtakes.

He made up seven places in only a couple of tours, before Charles Leclerc’s heavy crash at the final corner brought out a red flag, and managed to make an initial move on team mate George Russell for the lead on Lap 18 of 53.

A mid-race Virtual Safety Car saw Mercedes split their strategies, with Russell staying out on old hards and Antonelli pitting for fresh mediums, which the Italian put to good use to beat the sister Silver Arrow and claim victory.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 afterwards, Wolff said: “He kept his head down, took no risks at the beginning with the restart, and then one by one, one by one [passed his rivals]… I must really say, an amazing drive.”

Asked about the early red flag potentially working against Antonelli, who had started on hard tyres, and the VSC pit stop bringing things back into his favour, Wolff added: “Yeah, it was after all… the two-stop was the best, but we didn’t think it was the case. That was good for him, actually.

“But, you know, today there was nothing that would have stopped him.

“Obviously George fought with worn out [tyres] at the end, but I’m really happy for the one and two – it’s great.”

Antonelli’s latest triumph puts him 66 points clear of Russell in the Drivers’ Championship standings, while Mercedes are now 122 points ahead of Ferrari in the Teams’ battle.