Wolff admits Mercedes 1-2 at Monza 'could have ended in disaster' as Antonelli and Russell clashed

Toto Wolff confessed he came close to ordering his drivers to cool their battle after Kimi Antonelli and George Russell repeatedly swapped the lead at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, with the Mercedes team principal warning the clash “could have ended in disaster”.

Antonelli started 19th following a grid penalty for exceeding his power unit allocation, yet carved his way up to second within 16 laps. A 12-lap wheel-to-wheel duel with Russell followed, the Silver Arrows trading the lead several times before a virtual safety car gave Antonelli the chance to pit. He rejoined just 14 seconds behind his team-mate on fresh rubber, caught Russell with six laps to go, and the decisive moment came on lap 49 — Russell cut Turn 2 while Antonelli slid wide into the gravel trap. Both survived, and Antonelli crossed the line four seconds clear of Russell, with Max Verstappen a further 15 seconds back in third.

Wolff admitted the tension in the garage was acute. “At times, we were thinking, ‘It’s clean, but it’s a bit close’,” he said. “I had a finger on the button to Marcus, to Bono, to Kimi, to George, but I didn’t push it.”

The Austrian was candid about the potential consequences of that final incident. “George tried to not cut the corner, and Kimi then obviously on the marbles, going straight — that could have ended up in a disaster when it comes to the race result. We would have looked like idiots.”

Despite the anxiety, Wolff ultimately backed the decision to let them race, framing the episode as a lesson rather than a failure. “We will be talking about that situation as another building block of how we want to race in the future. But I think it was worth it to show the racing spirit in the team and have them go at each other.”

For Russell, the result carries championship significance — the Briton needs to keep accumulating points to remain in title contention, a pressure Wolff acknowledged made the free battle all the more complicated to sanction. Russell himself expressed mild regret that Antonelli’s pit stop cut short their extended duel. “I would have loved to have continued on the same strategy because I felt in a good position in that battle,” he said.

The Monza result echoes a similarly tense Mercedes head-to-head at the Canadian Grand Prix earlier this season, and Wolff’s comments suggest the team is still calibrating exactly where the line sits between allowing racing and protecting a result.