How Toto Wolff Plans to Keep Any Potential Russell–Antonelli Rivalry in Check

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Russell rightly acknowledges that he’s behind Antonelli in the standings because of two pieces of misfortune: unlucky safety car timing in Japan and problems during qualifying in China. “If things had gone slightly differently in Suzuka, I think I could have won that race,” he says. “In China, obviously, I had the qualifying issue; I think otherwise, I potentially could have been on pole there. So when I look at things rationally, I think I've maximized my results this year.

"And when I have a clean weekend, as I had in Melbourne, I've got the capability of being on pole and winning the race. Obviously, I was frustrated coming away from China and Japan, but that's always going to happen at some point in the season. I'm actually quite thankful that I still managed to get some decent points on the board.”

Inevitably, Antonelli had a few shaky moments during his rookie season, but this year his confidence is sky-high—and, notwithstanding Russell’s misfortunes, he has done a great job. The challenge now is to keep a lid on any talk about the championship. “It's been a better start than what we all anticipated and hoped for, at least on my side,” Antonelli says. Expectations, he admits, are a bit different now, "but at the end of the day, I still try to keep the same mindset that as I had in the in the first three races: just trying to keep focusing on what I have to do, on the goal, and just trying to put myself in the best position as possible to then achieve a great result.”

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He insists that he’ll take things one race at a time rather than be distracted by thoughts of the title battle. “What I don't want to do—now that obviously we're in a good position—is to start to think about the final result, or long-term results,” he says. “I just really want to focus on the present, and how I can maximize every time I go in the car in order to get the best result and focusing on the process. And then, little by little, trying to raise the bar, raise the game. Because obviously, George is super-strong, and competitors will get closer; so I just need to keep doing what I'm doing.”

So a fascinating internal rivalry is starting to unfold, and the man with the job of keeping ensuring that it stays both fair and controversy-free is team boss Toto Wolff. He’s faced a tougher challenge before, back in the intense Lewis Hamilton–Nico Rosberg era; that conflict, at times, got out of hand, with collisions on-track and mind games off it. The current scenario is a little different, not least because both drivers are proteges of the Austrian and didn’t come to Mercedes as established names. They owe their careers to him, and they understand that they have to play the team game.

“The team is always bigger than the drivers,” says Wolff. “It is Mercedes, so one of the most formidable brands in the world, the best car brand in the world. We race for 150,000 people that work for us, a company that exists for more than 120 years. And having the opportunity to race to be one of the few selected to race for Mercedes also comes with a responsibility for racing for Mercedes. And the moment the driver feels like this is all about him ... that's not the mindset that we would ever accept in the team.”

Wolff makes it clear where the priorities lie: “I would rather have only one car driving, if that wasn't clear. But I think it will never come to the point—because our drivers, they've been so long in the Mercedes family, that they are part of that mindset and this philosophical approach and the legacy that they represent.”

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He remains confident that Russell hasn’t been affected by the swing of fortune towards his young teammate, suggesting that the Brit knows that he has to look at his own performance and the bigger picture of a full season. “Something which we are always trying to instill in the mindset of our drivers—and I remember, we worked with George back in the day when he was a Williams junior—is first you need to introspect,” he says. “What is it that I can do better? And only then you can look outward. And that's what both drivers are doing."

"And you may say that I haven't seen many mistakes that George has done until now. But I have seen races going against him that he could have won, with safety cars or being stuck in traffic. And when it was about his own performance deficit that eventually led to this kind of so unlucky situation, then he's the first one to tackle it. But he's driving on such a high level. He's instrumental to the team success.”

As for Antonelli, he’s done everything that the team wanted him to do and more, having learned so much during a rookie year that was at times difficult; Wolff even called one race performance underwhelming. The decision to throw him into the seat vacated by Hamilton, rather than give him a second year of F2 and some testing, has paid off. Now, keeping pressure off the youngster is key.

“Of course, in Italy, everybody wants to talk about World Championships and comparisons to [Ayrton] Senna that come up,” says Wolff. “Which is something which I won't enjoy reading, because he's a 19-year-old that that has been most visible in Italy—and [my job is] more about decreasing the expectations and pressure, rather than increasing them."

"But he copes very well. He has a great personal environment. And I think in the team, there's times where we put our arm around him; other times we exercise more pressure. But overall, everything is coming together as expected."

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