Toto Wolff knows a thing or two about winning a World Championship, but on the eve of an eighth drivers’ title under his management, he refuses to look ahead and speculate on when Kimi Antonelli will become F1’s youngest title winner in history.
Having guided both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to their Drivers’ Championships, the Mercedes team principal knows ‘it ain’t over until the fat lady sings’. Something he needs to remind himself of, he admits, but in motorsports stranger things have happened.
“Well, I haven’t looked at it from that perspective,” Wolff said when asked about Antonelli winning it all in Austin.
If Antonelli wins with Russell P9 or lower and Hamilton P5 or lower, he will be crowned champion on Sunday.
“Because the moment I have the thought of how many points is it actually, and when could he win it, I remind myself that this is motor racing and crazy things have happened.
“Mathematically, I haven’t looked at the points, but it probably needs the other two, George and Lewis, to retire, and him winning, so this is not a likely scenario.”
Having witnessed a few extraordinary season finales, Wolff knows the most important thing is doing everything right yourself and ensure you score the points.
“But the aim must be to score points,” he explains. “Not to lose too many on the others, and maybe, like today [in Singapore], gaining on Lewis, which was unexpected.
“And then it’s going to come towards him, and whether that’s in Mexico or Brazil or further down the line, we shall see.
“And I guess whether Qatar and Abu Dhabi happens at the moment, everybody says so, so you need to go in the direction of; this is six more races to go and not four, as much as you want to go on that Christmas break earlier on.”
Focus on the race at hand prevents overthinking about the championship
But how does Toto Wolff not think of the upcoming World Championship for Antonelli? The answer lies in the way the team operates during a Grand Prix weekend. A recipe tried and tested over the years, which comes in handy again now.
The Austrian explains: “I think it’s what we have done, is look at every event [one] at a time. It’s literally, when you come to the next race, you do the pre-race work, you put the car on the ground.
“And on the Friday you develop it from session to session, and optimise it, and eventually hope that your qualifying goes well, and then you concentrate on race day. Not spending too much time on thinking about a championship.
“So this is, for me, the best way in order to win a championship.”
