Toto Wolff delivers striking Kimi Antonelli defence: 'Never going to happen again'

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has delivered a striking defence of Kimi Antonelli, insisting that a series of mistakes across the Austrian Grand Prix are "never going to happen" again.

The championship leader qualified fourth at the Red Bull Ring but went on to finish third, while George Russell's victory reduced his title advantage to 40 points.

Across the entire weekend at the Red Bull Ring, Antonelli was the quickest driver, but mistakes cost the 19-year-old victory.

He did briefly lead in Austria after pitting twice later than his team-mate and very nearly capitalised on a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) moments after both of his pit stops.

Had either VSC occurred a matter of seconds later, Antonelli would have been propelled into the fight for victory.

Asked if Antonelli was unlucky with the timing of the VSCs, Wolff told select media, including RacingNews365: "I think the VSCs weren't unfortunate for him. I think the VSCs could have been very fortunate if they had come a lap earlier, so they didn't make any difference.

"I think his driving was great. Other than the first few laps, he had the quickest race pace. I think he was just too attacking in the first few laps, which we want to see from a young driver like that, but that possibly cost him a shot at victory."

Antonelli's mistakes

While Antonelli had incredible speed, mistakes cost him victory in Austria. The first came in qualifying, when he thought a single-waved yellow flag was actually a double-waved yellow.

It was triggered by Max Verstappen crashing, with Antonelli bailing out of his lap rather than simply lifting through the yellow-flagged section of the circuit. Russell did the latter and secured pole.

Antonelli's next mistakes came in the opening 90 seconds of the grand prix, when he went off the circuit three times in the first 12 corners.

However, according to Wolff, none of the mistakes made by the teenager will ever be repeated during his career.

"The first few corners were where the race got lost," added Wolff. "Full attack mode, missing the braking point into Turn 1, missing the braking point into Turn 3, missing the braking point into Turn 4.

"But, as I said, this is exactly what I expect from him. Like in qualifying with the yellow flag, that's never going to happen to him again in his life, not knowing whether it was a double yellow or a single yellow.

"In the same way in the race, he just wanted to be right there on George and wanted to stay tucked in behind him, and that cost him a position or two."