Sep.11 (GMM) Toto Wolff has admitted he was nervous when championship leader Kimi Antonelli celebrated his extraordinary Monza victory by immediately heading to the kart track with his Mercedes crew.
The 20-year-old spent his only free day after winning from 19th on the grid at the well-known Franciacorta circuit in Castrezzato, Brescia, together with Mercedes mechanics, friends and family.
Antonelli said karting was simply how he wanted to celebrate.
“On Tuesday, I was already in England on the simulator, but on Monday we enjoyed it, obviously on the track,” he said in Madrid.
“I hadn’t raced karts since January, and by the end of the day, I was exhausted.”
“But in the end, it was nice to spend time with all the guys on the team and with my family, a way to have fun, just as we like to.”
Wolff told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he understood the appeal, but Mercedes’ history with extracurricular team activities made him uneasy.
“He’s a guy who loves racing and knows that a day in the karts is his way of relaxing and recharging his batteries,” said the team boss.
“I wasn’t very relaxed, though, because our team has a history of accidents during activities outside of race weekends. So I asked Kimi to let me know if everything was ok at the end of the day.”
Wolff was referring to a notorious cycling accident in Austria in 2014.
“We had a huge accident and I broke my wrist, elbow, shoulder, and collarbone,” he said.
Antonelli laughed when told of Wolff’s concern.
“Yes, yes, I can confirm that,” said the Italian.
“He even sent me a message to check if everything was ok, but I only saw him in the evening.”
The light-hearted episode comes at a remarkable moment in Antonelli’s season, with his Monza win extending his championship lead over George Russell to 66 points.
Russell now openly accepts the scale of the task.
“I definitely need luck and good performances,” said the Briton.
“He is currently performing better than me. He deserves to lead the championship standings.”
“He’s delivering exceptionally well.”
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