Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was quick to poke fun at Andrea Kimi Antonelli over the radio on the cool-down lap of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Circuit. The Italian youngster secured third place on the podium after a calculated drive, capitalising on an intense on-track battle between McLaren's Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.
Running in fifth position initially, the Italian driver managed to overtake both the McLaren and the Ferrari as the pair aggressively jostled for position. He duly held onto the podium spot until the chequered flag, a result that puts Antonelli in a prime position to potentially seal the Drivers' World Championship at the upcoming race in Austin, Texas, in two weeks' time.
However, Antonelli certainly pushed his luck during the 62-lap encounter, as he found himself at severe risk of incurring a mandatory time penalty for four separate track limits violations. Mercifully for the Silver Arrows, the team successfully convinced the race stewards to excuse one of his misdemeanours, enabling the championship leader to completely avoid the sanction.
On the cool-down lap, Antonelli was congratulated by race engineer Peter Bonnington for effectively managing his race amid persistent complaints of a braking issue. "Yeah. Thank you, mate. A couple of niggles in this race that we need to iron out. Yeah. That brake issue not fully understood, but I think that lockup was caused by the sensor issue that we had on the grid," Bonnington radioed.
After further debriefing instructions, Wolff could not resist making a cheeky dig at his star driver. "Kimi, well driven. Well done. Maybe we need to have a little cushion under your arse to have you sit higher with the track limits, but it was very good!" he joked. Not taking the lighthearted situation too seriously, Antonelli replied, "Yeah, we need to consider that!" Read our in-depth analysis for the latest championship standings and race updates.
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