Toto Wolff makes 'cannibal' claim in final Kimi Antonelli evaluation

Toto Wolff believes Kimi Antonelli "stood his ground" against the Formula 1 "cannibals" during a mixed rookie season.

Antonelli was promoted to replace Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton for 2025, and impressed with fourth on debut in Australia in tough conditions, before becoming the youngest driver to lead a grand prix and set the fastest lap in just his third race in Japan.

He followed up the strong start with Sprint pole in Miami, but when the season returned to Europe, Antonelli struggled badly. The nadir came in Italy when Wolff publicly labelled the Italian's performance as "underwhelming."

Antonelli responded to this with a rich vein of form over the final flyaways, including podiums in Sao Paulo and Las Vegas, including a charge from 17th to fourth on the road in Sin City on an ambitious one-stop strategy, which became third when Lando Norris was disqualified from second.

In the final standings, Antonelli scored 150 points to finish seventh, just six behind Hamilton, as Mercedes secured second in the constructors'.

Reflecting, Wolff recalled his mantra of expecting to "tear his hair out" as he gave his final evaluation of Antonelli's season. 

"Like I have said before, before we started the season, we would see moments of brilliance that show his talent," Wolff began to tell media, including RacingNews365. 

"And moments where we're going to tear our hair out, and these days are going to be the ones that he learns the most.

"We had that, we had ups, we had downs and certainly lots of learning, but you need to remind yourself about days like [Sunday in Abu Dhabi] that Kimi is 19 years old. 

"It is the first time he was thrown among the Formula 1 cannibals, and I think he stood his ground, and there are certainly high expectations for him in the future."