Toto Wolff admits crucial mistake which left Kimi Antonelli 'toast'

Toto Wolff has acknowledged how the demands of Kimi Antonelli's first home race in F1, at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, left the 18-year-old burnt out.

The Mercedes team principal, who was not at Imola, highlighted how the Italian driver was "toast" as early at Friday, amid the rigours of a strenuous schedule and a myriad of commitments.

Antonelli invited school mates to the circuit, just one of a host of other personal engagements, but struggled to perform on track.

Having qualified a disappointing P13, he retired from the race. Whilst he was faring better in the grand prix - until reliability issues struck - Antonelli conceded the weekend was his "worst in terms of performance" when speaking to media, including RacingNews365, after the premature end to his afternoon.

It also prompted Jacques Villeneuve to call out Antonelli's approach to the weekend in Italy, saying the F1 paddock is "your office" as a driver and that you "don't bring friends or family to your office" whilst talking on Sky Sports F1.

Ahead of the round in Monaco, Antonelli reflected further on what will likely be his only 'true' home race for the foreseeable future, with Imola's contract with F1 expiring at the end of the season - although Monza will continue to hold the Italian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver stated how "very intense and very demanding" it was for him mentally and that he "didn't do a good enough job" conserving his energy with all the surrounding distractions.

"I could feel mentally, I was not as present as I usually was, and I wasn't as focused," he said before later adding: "I realised too late into the weekend that I was wasting too much energy."

Whilst he did not place any blame at the feet of his driver, it was a sentiment Wolff echoed when asked about Antonelli's round in Imola and if Mercedes will help to protect him from similar issues moving forward.

"I think this is a learning process," the Austrian told media including RacingNews365. "We concluded last year that we've made a mistake in maybe exposing him in Monza in his first ever running in FP1 to the local crowds, and he wanted to perform particularly well.

"And I think that Imola was probably the perfect storm because it's where he lives. It's his home track, school, family, local football club, all the people that helped throughout his career.

"Everybody wanted to have a little bit of Kimi. And you know, even as early as Friday, he was just toast. And I spoke to him on Saturday. He said: 'I'm out of energy of all of this.'"

Words of wisdom

Wolff shared the guidance he imparted to Antonelli to help his driver shield himself from the expectations placed upon him.

He also maintained how the Imola weekend was handled is a "mistake" the team will not make again.

"And it’s clear, he’s young, he wants to say thank you to everyone that participated," the 53-year-old added. "He doesn't want to be unfriendly to friends, family, fans, all them around.

"And, you know, it's also, like, what I... the guidance I gave to him [is]: At a certain stage, you need to be... you need to protect yourself, hide yourself in your room, in the engineering room on the Sunday, and everything else just comes second.

"And I think all of us together, the family, we realised that that was too much, and that is a mistake we will not repeat."