Wolff addresses ‘guilty’ concerns over Antonelli F1 promotion

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has asserted he does not feel guilt over Andrea Kimi Antonelli's rapid rise to F1.

Antonelli will race for Mercedes next year in place of Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton.

The Italian skipped FIA Formula 3 this year to partake in his rookie Formula 2 campaign, which will be his last experience in the junior formulae before his jump to F1 at just 18 years of age.

Antonelli has been under Mercedes' F1 wing for some time and has long been hailed as one of the best young prospects in racing.

When asked if he feels guilty about putting too much pressure on his shoulders, Wolff told media including RacingNews365: “I think the circumstances are guilty. In our industry, we perfectly understand who is capable and not. 

“I think how it's all panned out here, he's jumped F3, he's pretty much won everything beforehand then it's clear you start to become a Mercedes driver, you test in FP1, and at the same time you're under the magnifying glass because it all happens in Monza. 

“And it has been a while that an Italian driver was in a top team. So I'm sure that this can be a lot for an 18-year-old. But he needs to swim.”

Wolff declares mistakes part of 'development curve'

Antonelli made his FP1 debut at the Italian Grand Prix last weekend in front of his home crowd at Monza.

However, his session lasted just 10 minutes as a spin at the final corner saw him impact the barrier at high speed.

“These days that are so difficult, like it is for him at the moment, it feels certainly terrible,” Wolff asserted. “And that's part of the development curve. 

“I don't want to be the one who picks out great moments and say, 'well, did you see that sector? Did you see that lap time?' 

“But what we see is, and that's why I chose the word differently, what we see is there's performance. 

“And we've even seen that in the few laps that we've seen, but what he tried to do, the car can't take.”