Kimi Antonelli, watch out: Toto Wolff explains what it would cost him to lose his job at Mercedes
Andrea Kimi Antonelli has taken the Mercedes by storm with a string of spectacular performances, so much so that he heads into the Formula 1 summer break as the leader of the drivers’ championship with a massive lead over his closest rivals. Yet the Anglo-German team is still playing it by ear, mindful of the internal battles for the championship a decade ago during the era of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Toto Wolff has not ruled out a development as sensational as it is drastic: the dismissal of the prodigy from Bologna.
The prospect may seem like an exaggeration or a provocation, but it should not be underestimated. Toto Wolff specifically recalled the incident at the start of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix involving Hamilton and Rosberg, who were leading the race and would have battled for the title until the end of the year. The Mercedes team principal’s words, as reported by ‘RacingNews365’, were harsh: “I wouldn’t allow it again. The issue is very simple: it won’t happen again—neither to me nor to the team. If a driver were to repeat something like that, I’d fire him.”
The numbers, after all, paint a mercilessly clear picture of the situation at Mercedes at the halfway point of the championship. Antonelli leads the standings with 219 points, boasting a 50-point lead over Lewis Hamilton and a 59-point lead over his teammate George Russell: a lead that—even when adjusted for the various rule changes regarding scoring over the years—can be described as the widest ever recorded at the summer break of a Formula 1 World Championship. Six victories under his belt—including the win at Spa-Francorchamps, which made him the first Italian to triumph on the Belgian circuit since Alberto Ascari in 1953—tell the story of a simply dominant first half of the season for the 19-year-old Mercedes driver.
Moreover, in 2026 as well, it was in Barcelona that internal tensions within the team erupted most visibly. Before retiring due to a mechanical failure, Antonelli had managed to overtake Russell, who had started from pole position—a scenario that prompted Nico Rosberg, who experienced similar dynamics at Mercedes during his rivalry with Hamilton, to point the finger at Wolff. “Mercedes has been too considerate of George; they’ve protected him too much. As soon as the team risks losing the victory, everyone races together for the team’s success. And Mercedes should have done that sooner: Antonelli was once again the fastest,” said the former German world champion. Wolff himself later admitted: “Here in Barcelona, we may have lost the race because we didn’t want to issue a team order. It’s an issue we’ll have to address.”
As for Russell, the situation appears more delicate than ever. The Brit finished the first half of the season third in the standings with just two wins, and in Hungary he was plagued by a problem at the start, having to fight his way back from last place and finishing only sixth. His post-race comments sounded like a wake-up call: “I’ve never had a season like this in my career. Problems happen to me, but the whole team is experiencing them. I don’t usually feel the need for a break, but this year I definitely feel the need for one.” This psychological fragility has not gone unnoticed: Jacques Villeneuve declared that Russell “seemed to have already lost the battle against his teammate right from the start,” while Riccardo Patrese—who, with six victories, shares second place with Antonelli in the all-time rankings of Italy’s most successful drivers—didn’t mince words: “Sometimes it’s better to stay silent rather than make excuses.”
Further complicating the picture are images circulating on social media in recent days, showing Max Verstappen on vacation in Sardinia with Toto Wolff and their respective partners. The four-time world champion moored his yacht ‘Unleash the Lion’ in the island’s waters, and his reunion with the Silver Arrows’ team principal—which had already taken place during the week of Ferragosto 2025 in Cala Volpe — has inevitably reignited rumors about the Dutchman’s possible future at Mercedes. Verstappen could break free from his contract with Red Bull, which runs through 2028, if he finishes the season outside the top two spots in the standings: with his current 109 points, that scenario is far from unlikely. Back in June, former driver Ralf Schumacher had revealed that Mercedes had made a confidential offer to the Dutchman, though he described it as “so financially disadvantageous as to not even be an option”: according to the Kaiser’s brother, this was an intentional move by Wolff, who was reluctant to challenge the dominance of his young star by pairing him with such a high-profile and expensive champion. This interpretation, in light of the threats of dismissal mentioned by Wolff himself, adds another layer of complexity to managing the two talents at Mercedes.
