Guenther Steiner says Toto Wolff did something ‘remarkable’ as Kimi Antonelli fought George Russell

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Guenther Steiner has hailed Toto Wolff’s ‘remarkable’ handling of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and George Russell during the Canadian Grand Prix.

The two high-flying Silver Arrows produced their closest race yet as teammates in Montreal, which left the majority of fans on the edge of their seats, as well as Mercedes chief Toto Wolff.

Should Toto Wolff stay off the radio when Kimi Antonelli and George Russell battle?

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Kimi Antonelli and George Russell almost came to blows on several occasions during the Sprint race and Grand Prix. Fortunately for Wolff and Mercedes’ engineering talent, they largely managed to keep it clean.

However, the Briton suffered from a battery issue as he led Sunday’s race, which ended his race early and saw his younger teammate claim a more commanding lead in the F1 standings.

• READ MORE: Guenther Steiner fears George Russell will never be a champion unless he stops being too ‘nice’

Guenther Steiner hails Toto Wolff decision at Canadian Grand Prix.

During a recent episode of the Red Flags podcast, former F1 team principal Guenther Steiner hailed Wolff’s management of his highly ambitious Mercedes driver duo.

Asked for his ‘rock star’ of the Canadian Grand Prix, the Italian executive immediately replied, “Toto Wolff, and you know why? Because he let them race. He didn’t interfere, didn’t say anything. Just let them go out there, you have no idea.”

Will Kimi Antonelli’s F1 record ever be beaten?

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Wolff did make an appearance on the Mercedes team radio several times over the course of the weekend, with one message to Antonelli during the Sprint going viral. He was more than happy for his drivers to duke it out on track, but things had to remain clean.

“Fair play to him,” Steiner continued. “I give my full respect to him. In such a position, it’s easy to be like, ‘Hey guys, what is happening here?’ But no, he let them go, he let them race. Fair play, that boy is the rock star of Canada.”

Following the conclusion of the Sprint, Wolff noted that he didn’t want to deter either of his drivers from getting their elbows out with each other, as long as any future battles do not end in a double DNF like the infamous incident in 2016 at Barcelona.

Asked if he thinks the Austrian team boss would have spoken to his drivers about their conduct out on track in between the Sprint race and Grand Prix, Steiner replied, “I don’t know. I think for sure Kimi and George spoke about it.

“I’m pretty sure about that, but I don’t think it helped a lot because on Sunday they were at each other like on Saturday. For Toto not to put an end to it was remarkable, in my opinion.”

• READ MORE: Toto Wolff admits Mercedes nearly had ‘enough’ of Kimi Antonelli vs George Russell at Canadian GP

George Russell is now facing a bigger championship deficit than Lando Norris in 2025

Following his unfortunate retirement on lap 30 of the Grand Prix, Russell now trails Antonelli in the drivers’ championship by 43 points. Of course, there are still a multitude of race weekends to go, but it is now clear that the Briton cannot afford any more scoreless results.

In fact, he now trails the Italian driver by more points than Lando Norris did during his title fight with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri last year. At the height of the Australian’s title challenge, he led Norris by 34 points.

If Max Verstappen had clinched the title instead of Norris last year, that would have proved to be the biggest comeback in a title fight in F1 history. After the conclusion of the summer break last year, the Dutchman faced a 104-point deficit to Piastri.