Toto Wolff: Kimi was simply magnificent!

      Toto Wolff did not spare praise for his young protégé – Kimi Antonelli only turned 19 at the end of August, but in São Paulo he produced his best result of the season, finishing second. He was beaten only by Lando Norris, the race winner, but he withstood the pressure from Max Verstappen, who was aggressively pressing him in the closing laps.

      “We always say that a rookie needs time, that he will have both successful moments and difficult ones, but today Kimi drove simply magnificently, and behind the wheel of a car that in terms of pace was inferior to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull,” said Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal. “Towards the end of the race Kimi was running on tyres that were more worn than the tyres on the rival’s car, and it was very interesting to watch their battle.

      “On the last lap there was a moment when Kimi had to correct some understeer, and of course I understood that it would not be easy for him to hold the position. But this young man handled it brilliantly!

      “We have strengthened our position in second place in the Constructors’ Championship in part thanks to George’s result, who finished fourth, although he had to fend off attacks from drivers catching him in faster cars.

      “But we must not be complacent; we must stay realistic, because we see that weekends can unfold differently, and if something goes wrong you can easily lose 20 points – today we saw that with Ferrari. We must keep working, keep scoring points – those are the tasks ahead of us in the remaining races.”