Toto Wolff warned Kimi Antonelli not to be swayed by the enthusiasm of the Italian public as he pitted his young driver alongside tennis star Jannik Sinner.
Antonelli’s victory at the Miami Grand Prix was his third in a row, the first Italian to achieve it since Alberto Ascari in 1952. The Mercedes driver held off a challenge from reigning champion Lando Norris on Sunday.
The 19-year-old will head to Montreal in three weeks’ time 20 points ahead of Mercedes team-mate George Russell after reasserting his credentials as a genuine title contender.
Antonelli’s three wins this season have come on the same day that Sinner won in Indian Wells, Miami and Madrid.
Wolff, who has managed seven drivers’ championship wins, believes there is too much pressure on his rising star.
“The easiest thing is to make sure that he keeps both feet in the team; his parents have done a great job to put him down,” Mercedes Team Principal Wolff said.
