Toto Wolff asserts Mercedes remains a ‘pressure cooker’ for George Russell and Kimi Antonelli

Toto Wolff reckoned that Mercedes always had a 'pressure cooker' like environment in the team ahead of Kimi Antonelli's debut.

Toto Wolff asserts Mercedes remains a ‘pressure cooker’ for George Russell and Kimi Antonelli

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Toto Wolff, and George Russell (via IMAGO)

Mercedes suffered from a rollercoaster of performance in the 2024 season despite amassing some highly coveted race wins. The German carmaker was unable to contend for either of the championships through the latter half of the campaign. Moreover, the outfit might face yet another torrid season, but this time following prodigy Kimi Antonelli‘s debut. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reckoned that the team will continue to remain a ‘pressure cooker’ despite the personnel change.

Mercedes signed Kimi Antonelli for only the 2025 season as Toto Wolff wages his options for acquiring Max Verstappen 2026. Even George Russell‘s contract is supposed to end after the coming season with rumors of a battle between the two Silver Arrows to make way for Verstappen. Regardless of the uncertainty, Wolff reckoned that the current drivers were the team’s ‘future.’ The 52-year-old asserted that Russell and Antonelli always had been Mercedes drivers and had ‘complicated’ contracts.

These two are the future. They have been and will be Mercedes drivers, and therefore, we have contracts with George and Kimi that go much longer that are very complicated in terms of options, etc.

Toto Wolff told planetf1.com
YouTube video

Wolff noted that Mercedes had always been a ‘pressure cooker’ for the drivers due to the competitive atmosphere of the team. Despite the unfamiliarity with Antonelli’s pace in Formula 1, the Austrian was confident in the lineup. He reiterated that the German carmaker wanted to go with the two young drivers for the 2025 season.

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Mercedes always has been a pressure cooker, but this is where we stand as a team today, we want to go with these two.

Toto Wolff added

Toto Wolff revealed the reason behind Kimi Antonelli’s one-year contract

Kimi Antonelli would only have one year to prove his racing mettle to gain a seat for the 2026 season. Toto Wolff believed that this wasn’t concerning as this was the modus operandi of Mercedes for a very long time. Wolff highlighted that even Lewis Hamilton was taken by the team in a similar contractual fashion.

I think, like with times in the past, we always had very short contracts with each of the drivers – even with Lewis [Hamilton] last time around, was one plus one. And this is, in a way, [is] how the team operated.

Toto Wolff noted
Toto Wolff, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli (via Formula1.com)
George Russell, Toto Wolff and Kimi Antonelli (via Formula 1)

Mercedes would have to work hard on their pace to manage a better start to the 2025 season. Wolff has already minimized expectations from Antonelli as the latter will be in his rookie season. Moreover, lead driver George Russell will have to help the Italian get up to speed as soon as possible to maximize points over the season. The team might just be completely different with Hamilton’s absence.