P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Toto Wolff believes Andrea Kimi Antonelli was distracted by his friends and family at Imola and didn’t have the energy to focus on the race.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted that bringing a large group of friends and family to support driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the Imola Formula 1 race was a mistake, as it left Antonelli distracted and without energy to focus on racing. The 18-year-old driver received criticism from former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve for the distraction caused by the large entourage. Wolff likened the situation to Antonelli’s previous FP1 debut at Monza, where similar distractions led to a crash. Wolff emphasized the need for Antonelli to prioritize his focus on racing and learn from the experience to avoid repeating the mistake in the future. Antonelli himself acknowledged that the presence of so many supporters affected his performance at Imola, leading to his retirement due to a throttle issue after making progress in the race.
