Toto Wolff shares his thoughts on F1 Canadian GP fight between Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, in the Sprint and main race.
The 2026 F1 Drivers’ Championship fight came alive in Canadian GP when Mercedes duo Russell and Antonelli went at each other, not just in the Sprint but also in the main race. The former took the win in the Sprint, while the latter had the last laugh in the main race.
Saturday’s heart raising moment for Wolff
Their fight was cut short on Sunday due to the Brit’s retirement. The tussle sent shockwaves to Mercedes pits on both the days, where team boss Wolff had to intervene, especially on Saturday. Antonelli was not happy as he radioed multiple times, despite pleas from Bono to concentrate on the race.
Wolff had to interrupt as well couple of times. They had a chat post-Sprint, especially due to the Turn 1 moment where they came really close to hitting each other. On Sunday, it was a much better fight. But both made several mistakes to give an upperhand to each other.
Enjoyable battle despite hair raising moments
Wolff noted how the chat went where he highlighted how close they were to each other at times. “Before talking about George’s race or Kimi’s race, it is always easier at the end now to say, well, that was great for the team and great for the sport,” he said in a print media session after the F1 Canadian GP.
“And didn’t we all enjoy watching the battling? That is true to a degree, but there is another side, which we need to look at it, that it was close a few times, Kimi tucking back in and locking the tyres could have ended up in a double DNF, not because of over-aggressive driving each other, simply by a mistake.
“The same through the last chicane with a situation…so it’s important to analyse the race, then discuss with the drivers whether they felt it was a bit close. And if that is the case, how can we avoid these very, very tough situations or very, let’s say, situations where we deem it a little bit too close,” summed up Wolff.
Wolff thinks such fights will help others to close-in
The Austrian’s other point was about the fight allowing F1 rivals to close in. In the Sprint, it helped McLaren’s Lando Norris to get behind, while in the main race, they did have Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, close initially, before they dropped back.
He feels Russell and Antonelli will have to be mindful the next time in such fights. “There is another angle that we had a pace advantage today and that when they were driving behind each other, we were going half a second quicker than everybody behind us,” continued Wolff.
“But there could well be when we were not, when they were fighting, we were losing a second to all the others. So, we had the gap, we had the margin today, and then it’s easy to accept that they are fighting to a certain degree, but obviously that’s not going to be always the case.
“So as much as we look very sportsmanlike today, allowing it, there could be a situation where we would maybe put it, how do you say, dim it down a notch. Is that how you say it? Turn it down a notch, yeah,” summed up Wolff, who was pleased with their behaviour on Sunday.
Antonelli’s radio chatter
“Yeah, very pleased, yeah. It’s exactly what we had agreed,” he said. The fight on Saturday also ignited the radio issue, where the remarks from Antonelli could have landed Russell in trouble from penalty point of view. It also indicated of self-interest over team’s in some ways.
Wolff agreed that there is room for improvement on that front of radio messages, but he doesn’t see the self-interest point of view of the Mercedes F1 drivers. He feels the radio is normal race driver instinct, which is what is welcomed but he doesn’t want as much that can attract stewards.
No self-interest move as per Wolff
“No, I don’t think so [that self-interest was more],” said Wolff. “Obviously, when you listen to some of the radio comms, I think there’s room for improvement, but in terms of, wearing a hat on your sleeve is right, but not…how can I say, concentrate on the driving, that’s important.
“But other than that, I think they behaved like race drivers that race for, what’s that? There’s race drivers that race for a championship. So I couldn’t see, I wouldn’t be able to see a fault in that. Yeah, that’s [risk of attracting stewards] something we can clear internally.
“That’s something we can clear internally, but I don’t appreciate so much, what’s the right word? Elaborating on emotions on the radio,” summed up Wolff.
