Commenting on George Russell’s and Kimi Antonelli’s results and Mercedes’ overall result at Monza, Toto Wolff also paid an indirect compliment to Max Verstappen after his dominant win.
The Monza weekend wasn’t one to remember for Mercedes, who managed no better than fifth place with George Russell and ninth with Kimi Antonelli—the latter being penalized at the end of the race for forcing Alex Albon onto the grass at Turn 3.
The spotlight at Monza wasn’t on the two Mercedes drivers, nor on the two McLarens—even though the latter sparked plenty of debate over the position swap ordered by the pit wall, despite the fact that both are in a tight championship battle.
Max Verstappen emerged as the dominant winner of the Italian Grand Prix, with the four-time world champion, after taking pole on Saturday, following it up on Sunday with a victory nearly twenty seconds ahead of Norris.
One aspect that didn’t go unnoticed by Toto Wolff: in an interview with Sky Sports after the race, he praised the Dutchman’s performance, albeit without mentioning him directly.
'It was a tough day today, you can clearly see that there is only one guy that makes everybody else look a bit bad, a bit stupid'', the Austrian said.
''The turn around that they (Red Bull) have made wasn't written off, and here we go; Max disappears in the distance,'' he later told GPblog.
Verstappen also put on a show after the race, revealing what he would have done if he had been in Oscar Piastri’s shoes and had been asked to give up his position to a championship rival.