– According to Kimi Antonelli, you cannot rein in drivers in a championship fight; instead, you must trust them on the track and let them battle it out.
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“We will continue to duel, just like in Canada,” explains the championship leader ahead of the Monaco weekend. “Of course, we’ll do it a bit smarter, but the team certainly wants us to be able to race freely against each other.”
“That’s how it has to be,” the 19-year-old continues. “You can’t put a driver on a leash when he’s fighting for wins and championships. You can’t tell him: ‘Oh, you, hold back a bit.'”
“Of course, something like that can happen, but the team wants us to race,” Antonelli concludes. After the race in Canada, Toto Wolff had noted that they don’t necessarily want to repeat scenarios like at the Montreal Grand Prix.
After all, Antonelli and Russell narrowly avoided major collisions several times in the sprint and main race. Nevertheless, the championship leader says, no team orders are planned.
Instead, both Mercedes drivers emphasize that they want to treat each other as fairly as possible in the championship fight. “We had a few discussions after the race weekend,” Antonelli recounts.
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“We had one of them just a few days before our arrival [in Monaco]. We analyzed all aspects of the race, and the result was ultimately: ‘You can drive freely, as long as you respect each other and don’t put yourselves in situations that could harm one or both of you.'”
“You know, the team never wants to dictate any rules,” explains the four-time Grand Prix winner. “Of course, they want both cars to finish and for the team to take home as many points as possible.”
“We are aware of that, because although we drive for ourselves – after all, we each want to be the best and win – we also drive for the team. We want to reward the approximately 2,000 employees in Brackley and Brixworth, and we want the team to win.”
In the World Championship, both Mercedes drivers are in the top two positions. If experts like Dr. Helmut Marko are to be believed, a Silver Arrow will inevitably take the title at the end of the season.
This certainty, however, is unlikely to cause fewer headaches for Toto Wolff. After all, Mercedes experienced the Hamilton vs. Rosberg duel, in which the cooperation between the two teammates posed a major challenge for about three years.
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