Chinese GP brought out Toto Wolff’s soft side about Lewis Hamilton | F1 | Sport
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff was as delighted for Lewis Hamilton as he was for his own drivers (Image: Getty)
Toto Wolff can be a tough nut to crack, but his soft centre was fully on show as he watched the Chinese Grand Prix podium ceremony with pride. He looked up and saw young Kimi Antonelli, who joined Mercedes as a 12-year-old, holding back tears as he celebrated becoming a Formula 1 race winner.
He saw their previous prodigy and now team leader George Russell on the second step, with long-serving engineer Peter Bonnington collecting the constructors’ trophy. And he saw Lewis Hamilton, now of Ferrari but who Wolff still very much considers to be one of Mercedes‘ own, on the third step.
“It’s been a while that I’ve been in Formula 1, but that podium now was probably one of the best moments I’ve ever had,” the Austrian said, with a lump in his throat.
“The three of them, with Bono right in the middle who was with Lewis forever and then took over Kimi, making him into what he is today. It’s rare that I’m overwhelmed, but that was such a moment.”
Everything looks very rosy for his team right now, having enjoyed a near-perfect start to the new campaign. Just three points have been dropped, after Antonelli fell from second on the grid to fifth in Saturday’s Sprint race.
But he more than made up for it 24 hours later with an impressive victory from pole, leading Mercedes’ second one-two finish in as many Sundays. They’ve now managed as many of those in seven days as they did across five whole seasons between 2021 and 2025.
Antonelli is only the second teenager in history to win a Grand Prix, after Max Verstappen‘s first win as an 18-year-old a decade ago. And, impressively, he did it in a straight fight with his much more experienced team-mate Russell, even if he was helped a little by Charles Leclerc slotting between them on the first lap.
The Ferraris again enjoyed a superb launch though Antonelli, who had struggled off the line in the Sprint 24 hours earlier, held his own. Hamilton muscled past to take an early lead but the young Italian was able to hold off Leclerc.
That was crucial to his win because, by the time the Mercedes cars used their superior engines to get back past the Ferraris, Antonelli had the gap to Russell – he just needed to maintain it.
Mercedes’ past, present and future were all on the Chinese Grand Prix podium (Image: Getty)
And he did so with little trouble, except for one lock up with three laps left as the adrenaline surged through his body. “I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack,” Antonelli admitted with a smile afterwards. But Russell’s tyres were gone and so it meant nothing in the end.
Behind them, Hamilton and Leclerc produced much of the race’s entertainment with a protracted but thrilling duel for the final podium place. After several swaps of position and a superb display of tough but fair racing, Hamilton was delighted to eventually come out on top.
They were able to fight without any pressure from the McLarens that would have started behind them, had they not both suffered electrical problems on their engines before the race. It meant a first double DNS for McLaren since the infamous 2005 Indianapolis race in which only six cars took part.
Lando Norris, whose chances of a successful title defence already look slim, said: “It’s frustrating and disappointing, my first non-start in Formula 1. It’s tough to take, but that’s life sometimes.”
