Wolff praises Antonelli’s Circuit of the Americas win as the Italian’s ‘best race yet’
Toto Wolff hailed Kimi Antonelli after the Italian’s dominant victory at the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas on 26 October 2026, calling it the driver’s “best race yet” and saying the result all but secured Antonelli’s first world championship. After the win in Austin, Antonelli requires only a ninth-place finish or better at the Mexican Grand Prix this weekend to clinch the title.
Antonelli converted pole into a controlled, largely front-running success at the Circuit of the Americas for his ninth victory of the season, a result that left him within touching distance of the championship. Wolff described the performance in Austin in emphatic terms: “On Kimi’s side obviously the main headline is that [it is] for me the best race that he’s delivered so far,” said Wolff. “Getting off the start with the inferior tyre and then controlling it at all times. Exceptional. I think he’s outperformed the car.” Antonelli compared the result to his Monza victory, saying: “Monza was a super special one and one that I will remember forever. But this one probably in terms of execution was better, because the way we built up and the way we built the performance throughout the weekend was very good.”
Wolff emphasized that the Austin victory was the product of long-term development and collective effort rather than sudden emergence, noting Mercedes’ early investment in Antonelli. Mercedes took Antonelli on as part of their driver development program when the Italian was 12 years old and have supported him through karting and in the feeder series to F1 since then; Wolff was the driving force behind bringing Antonelli into the team to take Lewis Hamilton’s seat when the British driver left for Ferrari. “I wasn’t the one responsible for it,” said Wolff. “It was teamwork. It was our junior team around [Mercedes’ driver development advisor] Gwen [Lagrue] that discovered him when he was 11.”
Wolff also addressed the criticism Antonelli faced early in his Mercedes career and in his rookie season, pointing to a difficult 2025 campaign as context for the recent turnaround. “There are many people that said last year after nine races without points, he shouldn’t be in a Mercedes. People in other teams that said he shouldn’t even be in Formula One,” said Wolff. He added a wider reflection on Antonelli’s development: “It’s been 30 or more years that I’ve tried to understand racing drivers’ brains and I still don’t know what has happened over the winter. His ability to process and deliver something that’s outstanding which we didn’t see coming.”
Wolff credited a network of coaches, engineers and family for Antonelli’s progress and cited outside recognition of the driver’s talent. “Credit to that group that have developed him over the many years. I read an interview [with Ferrari vice chairman] Piero Ferrari last week where he said: ‘What a talent, he reminds me of Niki Lauda’. And I’m thinking, people don’t get that this is the work of nine years. “The development of nine years, the hardship over nine years, the integration of the team, the working with the engineers, millions in the development of his career, of his ability, of his character together with his parents. It’s just not that it landed like this.”
Antonelli’s Austin victory left him in a position to secure the championship in Mexico City this weekend: he needs to finish ninth or better at the Mexican Grand Prix, though he could finish outside the points provided he remains ahead of his teammate George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. If he seals the title in Mexico City he will become F1’s youngest world champion at just 20 years old.