Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes Kimi Antonelli's aggressive approach in the opening laps of the Austrian Grand Prix ultimately denied the young Italian a genuine chance of fighting for victory.
Antonelli mounted an impressive recovery to finish third at the Red Bull Ring after climbing back into contention with strong pace in the second half of the race. But Wolff felt the damage had already been done during a frantic opening stint.
Starting fourth after losing ground in qualifying by mistakenly reacting to what he believed was a double yellow flag, Antonelli found himself battling both Ferraris while team-mate George Russell escaped up the road.
In his eagerness to make rapid progress, the championship leader ran wide three times in the opening two laps, losing valuable seconds that would later prove impossible to recover.
Wolff praises aggression despite price paid
While Wolff admitted the mistakes were costly, he made it clear he would rather temper an attacking driver than try to “accelerate a donkey”.
"I think he was very eager at the beginning to get the victory done in the first couple of laps, and that cost him dearly," Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
"But I like the enthusiasm, and he just goes for it up the hill there [at Turn 3], throws the anchor probably 30 meters too late. And the same thing down here [at Turn 1], and that's how it should be.
"I've said it before, we want a driver to be full on the attack all the time rather than; you can't you can't accelerate a donkey, but you you can calm down a racehorse."
Russell ultimately converted pole position into his second victory of the season, finishing 1.6 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, while Antonelli crossed the line less than two seconds further back after a late charge that threatened to turn into a three-way fight for the win.
Antonelli admits he overdid it
The 19-year-old did not shy away from accepting responsibility, conceding that his own mistakes during the opening stint left him with too much ground to make up.
"I was a bit too excited on the first few laps," Antonelli told the media. "[I] definitely didn't drive well.
"I made too many mistakes, and on the first stint on the medium, I lost three or four seconds with the mistakes. I was struggling with the brakes.
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"After I changed tyres, I reset, and the pace at the end was very strong. It was a shame I joined the party a bit too late.
"On my side, there's a lot to improve, but still.. minimise the mistakes."
Although Antonelli saw his championship advantage reduced to 40 points as Russell closed the gap, Mercedes left Austria encouraged by another commanding team performance – and with the knowledge that its rising star may have been capable of even more had he kept his emotions in check during the race's crucial opening laps.
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