Toto Wolff makes 'kamikaze' claim in major Kimi Antonelli praise

Toto Wolff has praised Kimi Antonelli for not making "any kamikaze moves" during the first five grands prix of his rookie F1 year in which he has also set two records.

Mercedes protégé Antonelli was last year selected as Lewis Hamilton's replacement, and so far has finished fourth, sixth, sixth, 11th and sixth in his first five grands prix in Australia, China, Japan, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia, as well as a seventh place in the Shanghai sprint. 

Antonelli's average qualifying result has been 7.8 compared to 3.2 for his more experienced team-mate George Russell, who holds an advantage of 0.437s - although this is exacerbated by qualifying in Australia where Antonelli was 0.979s slower than Russell in 16th after floor damage ended his session early.

In the races, Antonelli has only made one minor mistake, on debut in the tricky conditions at Melbourne's Albert Park, although he did recover to take fourth place, and has claimed 38 points so far to sit sixth in the standings, seven points and one place ahead of Hamilton. 

Reflecting on the 18-year-old's progress, Wolff explained he was pleased to see the Italian avoid anything reckless so far. 

"It is a good point to make, to summarise the first five events and where he stands, I'm really happy," Wolff told media, including RacingNews365. 

"The trajectory is right, there haven't been any kamikaze moves, and he has been consistently learning through the weekends.

"He's always very fast when it comes to the end of the weekend, and seems to get on top of the car, how to drive the tyres and is 100 per cent on target.

"The European season starts [soon]. He doesn't know Miami [the next race], but then from there, we are going to have a pretty clear picture of this more natural habitat of tracks he knows, and he will find performance, but I am happy."