Wolff stunned by Antonelli's record start: 'Easier to calm a wild driver than accelerate a donkey'

Kimi Antonelli has stunned even his own team principal by turning his first three Formula 1 pole positions into race wins — a feat never before achieved in the sport's history. After four rounds of the 2026 season, the 19-year-old Mercedes driver leads the championship by 20 points over George Russell, becoming the youngest-ever championship leader along the way.

Why it matters:

Antonelli's immediate success reshapes the power dynamic at Mercedes and the broader title fight. While Russell is a proven winner, Antonelli's raw pace has already delivered three victories, forcing the team to manage a very different kind of internal competition than expected.

The details:

• Record run: Antonelli won in Japan (becoming youngest championship leader at 19 years, 216 days), then took pole-to-win in Miami — the first driver ever to convert his first three poles into grand prix wins.
• Wolff's surprise: “I expected a good start, but three wins in a row were not something we had expected,” Wolff told Gazzetta dello Sport.
• The 'wild vs donkey' analogy: Wolff explained it's easier to calm a wild driver with pace than to accelerate a slow one. “It is easier to calm someone down that is wild, because you won’t be able to accelerate a donkey.”
• Early hiccup: Despite the dominance, Antonelli crashed heavily in FP3 at the season opener in Australia, forcing major repairs. He still qualified second and finished P2, and is the only driver to podium in all four races so far.
• Russell's struggles: The experienced Brit has been hampered by team issues, bad luck, and his own mistakes in Miami, trailing Antonelli by 20 points.

What's next:

Formula 1 heads to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix — the third Sprint event of the season. While Antonelli has excelled on Sundays, he has yet to finish in the top three in any Sprint race. Wolff expects Russell to bounce back, making the next few rounds critical for both drivers.