Mercedes Formula 1 team principal and CEO Toto Wolff has assessed Andrea Kimi Antonelli's rookie season in the championship, claiming that the Italian driver learned how to handle the "cannibals".

Antonelli joined the Brackley outfit ahead of the 2025 season, replacing seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton as the Briton moved to Ferrari. 

The 19-year-old driver started his rookie season off strongly with a fourth-place finish at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. He also secured his first sprint race pole position and his first grand prix podium with a third-place at the Canadian Grand Prix. 

But with the highs came some lows for Antonelli as he dealt with the intense pressure of driving for a top team like Mercedes.

"Last year when we announced that he would drive the car, I said that we're going to have ups and downs, moments of brilliance and then other moments where you want to tear your hair out," Wolff explained during a Mercedes debrief video.

"Because of the, you call them learnings, but because of the mistakes, that's what it is. And I think we have seen exactly that. We've seen very strong races at the beginning of the season, particularly towards the end. But I think we never doubted in the speed, the talent and his ability.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

"It's just you're being thrown to the cannibals in Formula 1. The intense pressure of the media, the responsibility you have to Mercedes - to the many people that are giving their all to provide you an engine and a car.

"And I think probably that was the learning, throughout the middle of the season, particularly in Europe, with everybody wanting something from you. And he's a good person. So he didn't want to say no either.

"And overall, I would say a good season, full of learning, a strong base to move from here and start in 2026 with a new car, new to everyone. And you know what to expect."

Antonelli ended the season seventh in the drivers' standings with 150 points and contributed to a P2 finish for Mercedes in the constructors' championship.

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admits it is “super difficult” to gauge where his rivals are in their preparation for Formula 1’s overhaul in 2026, and said the feeling in the team was “not comparable” to preparations for 2014 – when its period of F1 dominance began.  

The Brackley-based squad has gone through two major rule changes in its current form. It aced the reset in 2014 winning eight consecutive constructors’ titles, but was lost in the weeds when the rules changed again in 2022.  

Now, it is on the cusp of a third shake-up as the championship braces for its new era in 2026. Next year, F1 will be defined by new rules that bring active aerodynamics to the front and rear wings, chassis will get smaller and power units will rely on a 50:50 split in internal combustion power and electrical energy.  

As the current ruleset came to an end at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Mercedes boss warned that comparing preparations for 2026 and 2014 was not possible.  

“Landing in 2014, I kind of had [a good] feeling already in the winter when we were the first ones running a full car dyno,” Wolff explained to media including Motorsport.com.  

“The engine was more reliable than it seemed with the other people. And obviously, day one testing, nobody did some laps, we did. The same on day two.  

“So, it's not comparable I would say. It's also that the grid is just much more competitive than it was in previous years.”  

Mercedes was “more cheerful than today” at the close of the 2013 season

While Wolff admitted that Mercedes was “more cheerful than today” when the 2013 season ended in Brazil – as it clinched second place in the F1 standings just six points ahead of Ferrari – he said his team was “on track” with its preparations for the new season.  

“It's super difficult to predict, because we set ourselves targets that we are on track to meet,” Wolff explained. “But whether those targets were set ambitious enough and whether those targets have been set in the right place in terms of priorities, only the future will show.”  

That future is approaching rapidly, as F1 will host a closed-doors test in Barcelona from 26 January. And while Mercedes hasn’t yet announced when it will launch its 2026 challenger, Red Bull will be the first manufacturer to break cover with an event on 15 January.  

“This is not far away, eight weeks or so,” he said after the final race of 2025. “It's actually awful to say. Today was the first day in the morning when I thought, ‘I don't want to go to a race track’.” 

Now, he says the team will do “everything in our power to come out with a car, with a power unit that is competitive enough”.  

However, he wouldn’t be drawn on predicting the team’s position come lights out in Australia, and warned that he was a “glass half-empty person” when it came to predicting his team’s fortunes – especially after it started the 2022 rules cycle on the back foot after seven years of dominance in F1.

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Mercedes Formula 1 team principal and CEO Toto Wolff has showered 2025 F1 Academy champion Doriane Pin with praise after the 21-year-old "crushed" the all-female racing series.

The French driver joined the Mercedes Junior Team in 2024 as she entered her rookie season in F1 Academy. After finishing her first season in the championship in the runner-up position, she came back on the hunt for the title in 2025. 

Over the seven rounds, Pin accumulated 172 points, which were enough to clinch the title over Maya Weug, who finished second.

"Yeah, Dori has been a great addition to the team. Her background was a little bit different because she came through karting and then more from touring cars and GT cars, and some very good performances in prototypes," the team chief explained during a Mercedes debrief video.

"But then she went into Formula 1 Academy and crushed it. She won the championship. She’s a fierce young lady that can drive, and, from a personality, she fits into Mercedes, she fits into the team. And it's a pleasure to see her working."

Pin's next move is currently unclear, but she is keen to remain with Mercedes.

Doriane Pin, PREMA Racing

"We can decide where we want to go. We don't know yet where we are going because we finished the season in mid-November, so it's already late," Pin explained to Goodwood. "We will, for sure, make some decisions in the next few weeks. The goal is hopefully staying with Mercedes, and we have a successful career together, and a long one.

"We finished the season together, so we will definitely have a full discussion with the team."

She added: "I like both single-seaters and sportscars, obviously, because they're high-level, and you always fight with the best in the world.

"When I raced in WEC, it was very competitive and a very beautiful championship, but single-seaters has been a really good experience over the last two years."

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Red Bull GmbH managing director Oliver Mintzlaff is not concerned about Max Verstappen's contract clauses with the Milton Keynes outfit.

While the Dutchman is under contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028, it is understood that there are contract clauses that would allow Verstappen to leave the team early. 

Discussions with Mercedes Formula 1 team principal and CEO Toto Wolff led to rumours of the four-time champion eyeing a move to the Brackley squad for 2026, but Verstappen later closed the door on his exit as he reiterated his commitment to Red Bull for next year.

"What's important to say is that I'm not afraid of any performance clause in his contract. The most important thing for an athlete is that he sees that everyone on the team is giving their all for him. And I think Max is impressed with the way the results and the atmosphere in the team have gone this year," Mintzlaff told De Telegraaf.

"Of course, Max always wants to win and have the best possible car, but so do we. As long as Max feels we're working towards it and doing everything we can, I think he'll stay loyal. He also sees how much we've invested in our own engine.

"Don't forget that we're an energy drink brand, and what a unique step this is. I feel there's enormous appreciation and loyalty on both sides. I have no doubt that Max Verstappen will finish his career at Red Bull."

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2026 welcomes a new wave of regulations for F1, which will act as a reset button for the grid. Verstappen previously confirmed that he would consider retiring if he did not find the new regulations fun.

"My contract runs until 2028 but it [his future] will depend on the new rules in 2026, and if they are nice and fun," he told PA ahead of the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix.

"If they are not fun, then I don't really see myself hanging around. Winning seven titles is not on my mind. I know that there are three more years after this one, so it could be possible, but it is not something I need to do before I leave the sport. I can leave the sport easily tomorrow."

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