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Toto Wolff

Toto Wolff shares 'wipe out' fear as F1 outcome hangs in the balance

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has cautioned against getting carried away after a huge points swing in the F1 constructors' championship in Brazil.

Wolff
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Toto Wolff has implored his Mercedes team to "keep both feet on the ground" in the fight for second place in the F1 constructors' championship.

With three rounds remaining, the Brackley-based squad is in the runner-up spot, having overtaken Ferrari at the São Paulo Grand Prix.

Heading into the trip to Interlagos, the Italian team held a slender, one-point advantage over Mercedes, with Red Bull 10 points behind in fourth.

However, a disastrous weekend for the Scuderia in Brazil saw it score just six points — all in the sprint — as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton suffered a double-DNF in the full-distance race.

Ferrari has now slumped to fourth, and on current form faces an uphill battle to re-pass the Max Verstappen-inspired Red Bull and Wolff's Mercedes team.

The German marque's 43 points at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace leaves it with a healthy 32-point advantage over the Milton Keynes outfit.

When Ferrari's misfortune was put to the Wolff after the race at Interlagos, he used the opportunity to highlight just how easily any team can endure a "wipe-out" round.

"For the Ferraris, we need to keep both feet on the ground," the 53-year-old said on Sky Sports F1.

"You can see that you can have a wipe-out weekend like the Ferraris had, and from one moment to the other, you lose 30 points.

"So, continue to work, score the points in the next coming races, and then that's the end."

The Austrian was glowing in his praise of Kimi Antonelli, who held off Verstappen late on to finish second, calling the young Italian "fantastic" for his defence against the Red Bull driver.

Whilst George Russell, in the other W16, was curiously off the pace of his team-mate all weekend, Wolff was quick to point out his display, fending off the quicker McLaren of Oscar Piastri to bring his car home in fourth.

"Both of them fighting a faster car from behind and holding on to it," he said. "That kind of rounded it up for us to see that, how they were able to fight."

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