Steiner predicts Wolff will impose Mercedes team orders if Ferrari's Hamilton challenge intensifies

Guenther Steiner has warned that Toto Wolff will not hesitate to impose team orders at Mercedes if Ferrari’s championship threat continues to grow following Lewis Hamilton’s maiden victory with the Italian team at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast, the former Haas team principal argued that Wolff’s competitive instincts will ultimately override Mercedes’ current policy of allowing George Russell and rookie Kimi Antonelli to race freely. “I think if the performance of Ferrari continues, Toto will come down to give team orders,” Steiner said. “Toto will not lose a championship because he didn’t give team orders. He wants to win — he hasn’t won now for a while, he’s ready to win another championship.”

Steiner’s comments come after seven rounds of the 2026 season in which Mercedes has given both drivers an open road. The numbers, however, already tell a clear story: Antonelli has won five races to Russell’s one. The 19-year-old Italian leads the drivers’ championship by 41 points over Hamilton, with Russell a further nine points back in third.

Antonelli’s run of form has been remarkable. After back-to-back victories in China and Japan — which made him the youngest driver ever to lead the championship — he added three more consecutive wins in Miami, Canada and Monaco before Ferrari’s resurgence in Barcelona signalled that the title fight may be tightening.

Steiner believes Wolff is already war-gaming the scenario internally. “I think as soon as Toto feels that Ferrari is going to be a real contender, like they were in Barcelona, he will do it. He will not wait around,” the Italian-American said. “They will watch the next race, see how it goes there. And I think they are already planning — for sure they held meetings: ‘How are we going to deal with the situation if Ferrari comes close?’”

The question of who Wolff would favour is one Steiner declined to answer definitively, though the points gap makes Antonelli the logical candidate. “Kimi won five races; George won one. That says it all,” he noted. “Therefore, I think Kimi is still, as you call it, in the driver’s seat.”

The championship picture will be tested again at the Austrian Grand Prix, scheduled for 26-28 June at the Red Bull Ring, where Ferrari will be eager to prove their Barcelona performance was no one-off.