Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has hailed the growing bond between Kimi Antonelli and race engineer Pete Bonnington that has turned the teenager into a genuine F1 title contender this season.
Following a rollercoaster debut campaign last term for Antonelli, the 19-year-old Italian has thrust himself into the F1 spotlight with a run of three consecutive grand prix victories to take early control of the drivers’ championship.
Antonelli has set numerous age records so far, and the hype is building around his exploits, which Wolff knows he has to control to ensure it does not affect him moving forward this season.
Wolff recognises, however, that Antonelli is in good hands with the cool, calm, collected ‘Bono’, who has spent more than two decades in F1 and worked in the past with two seven-time F1 champions in Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.
Appreciating the influence Bonnington has so far had on Antonelli, speaking to the media, including ApexF1News, Wolff said: “Bono has learned from [working with] the greats, from Schumacher to Hamilton, for many years.
“Now with Kimi, he has been a good mentor to him, but also a strong boss.”
Highlighting one such instance during Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix, Wolff added: “He had two strikes with the track limits. I said to Bono, ‘One more and I’m going to go on the radio’. And he said, ‘No, no, you leave that to me’.
“That shows that he just knows how to connect with him, how to handle him, and that’s good. It’s been part of the success.”
Wolff feels Antonelli’s performance across the weekend in Miami, notably with the grand prix win from a third successive pole, underlined the rapid improvement he has made.
“I know track limits are among the mistakes, but it’s easier to calm someone down than to accelerate a donkey,” quipped Wolff.
“For me, that was his best race so far. It reminded me of his karting days or Formula 4. There were no mistakes.”
