F1 | Wolff: “Antonelli needs experience. Vettel? His story speaks for itself”

Toto Wolff has confirmed an increase in track days included in the F.1 test program structured for Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The debut will take place in two weeks (16 and 17 April) on the Red Bull Ring circuit, where Antonelli will have the 2021 W11 single-seater at his disposal.

“Kimi's program driving Formula 1 single-seaters has been planned for some time – explained Wolff – we haven't made many changes but in recent weeks we have decided to add some days. What you will see in the coming months was planned several months ago, and it is a program launched regardless of his presence in Formula 1 next season.”

“The objective of these tests is to allow Andrea to achieve a good feeling behind the wheel of an F1 car – added Wolff – we want him to feel comfortable. Also for this reason we decided to let him take his first steps with an excellent car (the 2021 W12) and then move on to the W13.”

“Obviously Andrea has been with us for a long time, we know him well and we are eager to see what he will be able to do in a Formula 1 car. We have seen how competitive Ollie Bearman (Antonelli's F1 teammate) has been ) during the Jeddah weekend, despite missing free practice and the specific difficulties of the track, he went very well, so we can believe that Kimi would have done very well too.”

Wolff was subsequently teased on the driver market, asked to comment on rumors of Mercedes' possible interest in Sebastian Vettel. “For Seb, his CV speaks for itself, his position cannot be underestimated – he replied – and I believe that sometimes it is also useful to take a break to regain motivation. But we haven't made any decisions yet, and we won't in the next few weeks.”

“There is a large and evolving market, I believe that we will soon hear about important names, but on our part there is no rush, we can afford to keep our options open both with very young and very experienced drivers.” Wolff he then cut short when asked if the list of candidates is now definitive: “Yes, we have the list, but I can't tell you the names of the candidates nor the number of pilots present”.