Wolff discusses that it's 'too early' for Antonelli's title talk.

      "We can discuss the championship in Abu Dhabi."

      Toto Wolff has called on the media to moderate the increasing championship excitement surrounding Kimi Antonelli, even though the teenage prodigy is already being seen as an early favorite for the title. The 19-year-old Mercedes driver currently leads the standings after three races, but Wolff emphasizes that it is much too early to be discussing a title battle. "Now they’re going to be asking him in press conferences about the championship, which they shouldn’t do," he stated. "He has two wins, there are still 19 races to go, and there's plenty of time for both victories and defeats. He must continue to perform well. We can discuss the championship in Abu Dhabi, but there’s a long way to go before then. Nothing has been determined yet; we haven’t even reached 20 percent of the season."

      This caution comes amidst concerns of a potential rivalry within Mercedes between Antonelli and George Russell, reminding many of the fierce competition between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. At the same time, Wolff is downplaying the notion that Mercedes might completely dominate the 2026 season. "Miami will mark a fresh start," he said. "How effective will the upgrades that teams are implementing be? How have we optimized our other systems? It’s going to be thrilling. Teams and drivers are beginning to learn how to leverage these systems to their advantage, and we saw an early sign of that in Japan.

      "During the initial two races we were still leading, but that wasn’t the case at Suzuka. We have always cautioned against that," he added. Wolff stressed that Mercedes remains prudent about its current standing. "We've only had three races. We seem to be the champions right now, but it’s highly likely that we won’t be leading in three Grands Prix." Ferrari, currently the closest competitor, plans to utilize the April break to close the gap. Paolo Filisetti noted in La Gazzetta dello Sport: "The Prancing Horse will take the next four weeks to enhance energy management and leverage the advancements made to the power unit, known as the ADUO. Concurrently, engineers are working on the floor, sides, and flaps, with the definitive introduction of the Macarena wing."