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As both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli find themselves in the hunt for the drivers’ championship, Toto Wolff has already made it clear who he’d back.
Russell won the Australian Grand Prix and the Chinese sprint, while settling for second behind Antonelli at the Chinese Grand Prix.
On the other hand, Antonelli was right behind Russell in both his race and sprint wins. Both drivers are on top of the drivers’ championship standings with just four points between them.
A maiden Grand Prix win for Kimi Antonelli, as well as a first podium appearance for Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari! 🍾
What was your favourite moment of Antonelli's debut win?
With both Mercedes drivers showing they’re ahead of the rest of the grid, at least for now, it looks like we have a potential title fight between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli brewing.
Russell will now be treating Antonelli as a title rival. But this will undoubtedly put Toto Wolff in a difficult position. However, his comments from last year suggest he’s already backing one driver over another.
READ MORE: Mercedes could have unique advantage owing to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia GP cancellations
Toto Wolff hinted George Russell is Mercedes’ priority over Kimi Antonelli
During his Drive to Survive interview in 2025, Toto Wolff spoke about the risky dynamic that McLaren had created between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri over their mutual ambitions to win the championship.
Learning from his tense experience with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, Wolff indicated that George Russell would be the ‘clear’ choice over Kimi Antonelli to win the championship as a Mercedes driver.
“Our driver lineup is very different to McLaren. We have a clear lead driver in George. And then you have Kimi, as a rookie, who has shown that he has the potential…
“And generally, the dynamic in the team is very positive… McLaren has excelled in the last few seasons. But for me, two lead drivers is a very risky strategy.
“We had it in the past with Nico and Lewis. Both of them wanted to win a world championship. None of them slotted in for number two…”
READ MORE: Toto Wolff admits Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes drivers sharing China podium is a career highlight
The plaudits go to Kimi Antonelli, but who else in the top 10 impressed you at the Chinese Grand Prix?
Let us know in the comments below!
Kimi Antonelli might have to force Mercedes to back him over George Russell
Of course, Wolff’s opinion might have changed in the last two weeks over this matter, seeing how well Antonelli has done so far.
Wolff still won’t put pressure on Antonelli to compete for the championship, suggesting that his goal is to still have Russell be the team’s lead driver.
But should there be a situation where Russell begins to fall behind the pack enough that the gulf in points between him and Antonelli is significant, Wolff may have no choice but to pivot to Antonelli.
Of course, given how well Russell has driven this year, that seems to be an unlikely scenario. Not to mention, it is a tall ask for Antonelli to outperform a veteran driver like Russell to that extent with just a season’s experience under his belt.
However, that scenario cannot be ruled out. And it would be very interesting to see how both drivers react, should this come to pass.
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