Toto Wolff is confident Mercedes will avoid a repeat of Lewis Hamilton’s toxic rivalry with Nico Rosberg after Kimi Antonelli emerged as a serious threat to teammate George Russell’s world championship bid.
Teenager Antonelli’s debut victory at Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix arrived a week after Russell won the season-opening round in Australia. Russell holds a four-point advantage over Antonelli with Mercedes in ominous form.
Hamilton’s relationship with Rosberg boiled over in the three years they fought for the title leading to a fractious atmosphere within Mercedes.
However, team principal Wolff believes the dynamic between Russell, 28, and Antonelli, 19 — both of whom climbed the Mercedes junior ladder — will remain harmonious.
“The relationship between Lewis and Nico was completely different,” Wolff said. “Nico and Lewis knew each other from their early karting days, being friends, but also having this social fight that was always engrained within them. It was a friendship that then became a rivalry, and then animosity.
“They were two different drivers. But having said that, you need to appreciate that drivers are here to win races and championships, and the moment you sniff that, obviously then the elbows come out. That’s something that the team needs to manage.
“But both Kimi and George are Mercedes juniors, and we’ve been responsible for the trajectory since single-seaters. So, I feel at this stage — and maybe I’m going to bite my tongue one day — that we are in a totally different situation.”
