Toto Wolff Says Driver ‘Made Everyone Look Silly’ During Italian GP

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says one driver 'made everyone look silly' during the Italian Grand Prix.

The race was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, with the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri completing the podium.

Verstappen qualified on pole and held the lead out of the first two corners, but race stewards ordered him to give up his place to Norris after he cut the first chicane.

But the Dutchman quickly re-passed his rival and dominated the Grand Prix from then on.

Norris, meanwhile, was comfortable in second for most of the race, only for a slow pit stop to drop him behind Piastri.

McLaren controversially swapped their cars before then allowing them to race to the finish, with Norris' superior tyre performance meaning that there was never realistically going to be a race to be had.

For Mercedes, George Russell came home fifth, between the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, while team-mate Kimi Antonelli was ninth.

Speaking after the race, Wolff praised Verstappen - who has been linked with a move to Mercedes for 2026 - and stated that he was in a class of his own.

"Today, one driver made everyone look silly," the Austrian told Austrian station Servus TV. "They really need to ask themselves what he's doing differently."

Pointedly, Wolff then claimed that Antonelli - whose position within the team is not yet confirmed for 2026 - made 'too many mistakes' during the race.

The Italian received a five-second time penalty for forcing Williams' Alex Albon off the track while the Thai driver was attempting to overtake on a straight.

The penalty dropped him behind Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in the final race classification at Monza.

In second practice, the 18-year-old beached his car in the gravel and lost out on valuable track time as a result.

Antonelli secured his maiden F1 podium at the Canadian Grand Prix, but during the eight-race European leg either side of that, the Italian has scored only three points.

Wolff described his manouevre on Albon as 'simply unnecessary', stating: "Overall, we weren't competitive enough over the weekend. A fifth and an eighth place are absolutely not satisfactory.

"I don't think, with our current set-up, we have a car that we can consistently drive onto the podium. But Kimi made too many mistakes.

"He simply needs to put together a solid weekend. Then he'll be racing on equal terms with Leclerc and George. And with George, things also weren't completely smooth today.

"Albon was so much faster [before the Antonelli incident]. You can defend yourself, use your elbows if you have to. Or if you can't defend, then make sure you don't lose time. But that [from Antonelli] wasn't needed."