Toto Wolff still plans to push ahead with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli as his 2026 driver line-up, despite the Italian teenager’s costly crash with Charles Leclerc at the Dutch Grand Prix. The 19-year-old tagged the Monegasque racer into the wall after an ambitious lunge at Turn Three.
Antonelli qualified just outside of the top 10 but enjoyed a strong start and was running as high as sixth when Mercedes opted to pull him in for an undercut attempt on Leclerc. The Ferrari man retained position on track but emerged from the pit exit blend line just ahead of the teenager, who was on hot tyres. Sensing an opportunity, the Italian made a lunge at Turn Three, but his ambition backfired spectacularly.
As Antonelli dived in low, he drew alongside Leclerc, but as the cars rounded the steep banked corner, he washed up towards the rear of the SF-25 machine. On exit, his front-right tyre tagged the Ferrari, sending the 27-year-old hurtling into the barriers and out of the race.
The fallout was a 10-second time penalty for Antonelli, and two penalty points, and he went on to collect another five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. These punishments dropped him down to 16th at the chequered flag, scuppering a once-promising weekend.
Despite the costly mistakes, Wolff’s driver line-up plans remain unaffected. “I always said, there’s not going to be any big news because we’re doing this,” he said after the race. “We’re continuing with both of them, of course.
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“With George [Russell], there’s a few things where we want to optimise some of the travelling and the marketing days, how many hours we’re putting [into it]. He’s an experienced driver, and for us, it’s always important to talk about it.
“We want to have the best performance of the drivers, and I think we’ve given both of them quite a strain with marketing activities and media activities, and this is how we, in a way, recalibrate.
“Is there going to be an announcement in Monza? No. But I don’t think it’s even going to be a big announcement. It’s just going to give you the heads up and say we’ve put a signature on the agreement.”
