Wolff singles out praise for Antonelli as he explains where Mercedes are struggling compared to McLaren

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff singled out Kimi Antonelli for a job well done in Miami, while explaining where the Silver Arrows are lacking compared to McLaren as third-placed George Russell finished over 30 seconds behind the frontrunning duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Despite plenty of positives for Mercedes in the US, Wolff was left to reflect on a weekend where McLaren’s dominance made it hard to assess where Mercedes are in terms of pure pace.

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While Russell went on to secure his fourth podium of the season, partly aided by the timing of a Virtual Safety Car, Antonelli also caught the eye throughout the weekend as the Italian teenager secured Sprint pole – becoming the youngest F1 polesitter ever in any format – and P3 in Qualifying for the Grand Prix.

“I think the high point definitely was seeing his [Antonelli’s] speed on a single lap, great,” Wolff said, as he singled out the youngster for particular praise. «You know that’s another proof of his talent and a good indication to how the future can be.

MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 02: Sprint Pole qualifier Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and Mercedes AMG — Antonelli’s pole was the highlight of the weekend for Mercedes

“And then in the race, challenging because [it is] so difficult here to find the right reference. You can say, ‘was the medium stint quick enough?’ You know, with George holding on in the back on the hard tyre – that was not good. And then when he went on to the hard, he just lacks experience managing it the right way.

“And then finding the right references, and Bono [Race Engineer Pete Bonnington] really tried to guide him, but when you’re in that car, it’s not easy. And I think it’s just part of the learning curve.

“It’s nothing that is disappointing or not. Overall, I go away with the feeling that he’s done a good job.”

Antonelli admitted to struggling on the hard compound tyre in the race, but he was far from alone – the two McLaren drivers the only ones able to get the C3 rubber working from the word go. On the mediums both Mercedes drivers were much more competitive, with Russell using that tyre to hold off Max Verstappen in the closing stages.

“It is simply that we have a really fast car, I believe on a single lap or on a few laps, [it is] absolutely where it can be, but we’re just not good with the tyres over an extended run and McLaren shows how it’s being done to a degree,» Wolff explained.

MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 04: Third placed George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 — Mercedes were able to celebrate another podium courtesy of Russell even if they had no answer to the pace of the McLaren

“I think that Red Bull, with Max, they’re managing it better, but also tricky performances and I would say we are solid in what we’re doing but [McLaren] are definitely doing an excellent job, by being able to go fast around the corners without overheating them. So, this is what we need to look up to and engineer our way out of the topic.”

Over one lap, Mercedes seem to be in the mix right at the front, Antonelli’s pole in Sprint Qualifying testament to that, but Wolff explained that sustaining the pace in a race is where the Silver Arrows’ focus needs to be.

“You put everything down [in Qualifying], what is the car capable of generating in terms of downforce and we are right in the ballgame,” added Wolff. «But at the end the points are being given for a race and a race means also being able to maintain that pace over a long time, over many laps and we are not capable of doing that.

“We just need to be better. We just need to understand, we need to find out where do we need to focus our attention in terms of development, what are the main performance contributors and we are on it, completely on it.

“We are trying to find out, we are experimenting and we are going to definitely be able to challenge [McLaren].”