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Toto Wolff

Toto Wolff delivers damning Kimi Antonelli verdict after Monza debut

Kimi Antonelli did score points at Monza, but it was a scrappy weekend for the Italian.

Wolff Antonelli
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Toto Wolff has described Kimi Antonelli's performance across the Italian Grand Prix as "underwhelming" after a tricky weekend.

Antonelli qualiifed seventh fastest, but was promoted to sixth after Lewis Hamilton's penalty for his highest grid spot since fourth in Canada, but suffered a messy race.

He received a black and white flag for track limit violations, whilst also earning a five-second time penalty and one penalty point for forcing Alex Albon off-track during the race.

This time penalty dropped him to ninth from eighth on the road, with Albon now jumping ahead of the Italian in the drivers' standings. 

Antonelli's weekend had got off to a bad start after he beached the car at the exit of the second Lesmo early in FP2 on Friday, with Wolff critical of Antonelli's performance, but still offered him encouragement.

"Underwhelming this weekend, underwhelming," Wolff told media, including RacingNews365, of Antonelli's performance.

"You can't put the car in the gravel bed and then expect to be there, and all of the race was underwhelming. 

"It doesn't change my support and confidence in him, because I believe he's going to be very, very, very good, but [Sunday] was underwhelming.

"A clean weekend also means that you don't carry too much trauma of previous mistakes into the next session or next weekend, because that is luggage if you're not going to attack the corner hard because you've been off there before and it finished your session.

"Or maybe, you are not attacking a driver who should not be in your way, like [Pierre] Gasly, because you had this situation with [Charles] Leclerc, and I mean Kimi shouldn't even lose a second with Gasly.

"We just need to free him up and drive. He's a great driver, he has this unbelievable ability and natural talent, but we need to go get rid of the ballast."

When asked how this would be achieved, Wolff simply replied: "By talking."

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