Toto Wolff warns Mercedes could turn future Kimi Antonelli, George Russell battling ‘in a groove’ after Canadian GP duel | F1 News

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has warned the team could turn the future battle between Kimi Antonelli and George Russell “down a notch”.

Antonelli and Russell staged a thrilling contest at Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix – a continuation of their battle in the sprints from the previous day – until a power unit problem for Russell finally ended the lead duel after 30 laps.

In Saturday’s sprint, Antonelli was unhappy with his teammate’s defense. Although the drivers discussed the incident before the Grand Prix, it did not reduce the aggression.

At one point, Antonelli almost ran into the back of Russell as the pair touched wheels in the final chicane, and Wolff said he would pass those moments on to his drivers.

“Now at the end it’s always easy to say, ‘Well, it was great for the team and great for the sport, didn’t we all enjoy watching the war?’ This is true to an extent, but there is another side that we have to look at, it was close a few times,” he explained.

“Coming back at km and locking tires can end in a double DNF and not because of over-aggressive driving, just because of a mistake. Same with that situation through the last chicane.

“It’s important to analyze the race and discuss with the drivers whether they feel it’s a bit too close and if so how we can avoid these very, very difficult situations where we think it’s a bit too close.”

Despite their struggles on Sunday, the Mercedes duo still managed to pull away from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes’ upgrades for Canada appeared to push them further up the field and Wolff suggested that, if there were future races without the speed advantage, it could reduce the dueling toning.

“When they were driving behind each other, we were going half a second faster than everyone behind us, but when they were fighting, we were losing a second to everyone else,” he said.

“So we had gaps, we had gaps and it’s easy to accept that they are struggling to a certain degree, but obviously it won’t always be like that.

“As much as we allow it to look like a sportsman in Canada, there might be a situation where we can take it down a notch.”

Wolff is not entirely happy with the radio comments

There seemed to be less animosity than in the sprint, particularly from Antonelli, but the Italian teenager felt they went sideways on the last occasion before Russell retired, having been “pushed out” in the final chicane.

Both drivers were told to keep the racing “tidy” or team orders would be enforced and Wolff admitted there was “room for improvement” in the radio conversation.

“It’s something we can clear internally. I don’t appreciate so much detail about emotions on the radio,” he said.

“It’s OK to wear your heart on your sleeve. Focus on driving, that’s important. But other than that, I think they behaved like race drivers who race for championships, so I can’t see anything wrong with that.”

Antonelli’s fourth win in a row and Russell’s misfortune means 43 points separate the Mercedes drivers for five rounds at next week’s Monaco Grand Prix.

Wolff said: “More than ever, this fight is on. There’s a lot at stake for both. As a team, as bumpy as the ride is at times, you have to accept that this is the fight they’ve been trained for.

“But equally, if there was a situation where we believed the team was at risk of losing points, or there was a situation where we were losing so much time behind our competitors, we wouldn’t hesitate one millimeter to apply the handbrake.”

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