沃尔夫：安东内利升入F1后两赞助商离开梅赛德斯
沃尔夫透露，梅赛德斯因提拔安东内利进入F1而失去两家赞助商，但安东内利在第二个F1赛季便夺得世界冠军，回报了车队的信任。
沃尔夫：安东内利升入F1后两赞助商离开梅赛德斯
两家赞助商因安东内利而离开梅赛德斯，但在他夺得世界冠军后，托托·沃尔夫与质疑他决定的人算清了账
在墨西哥大奖赛上，梅赛德斯收获了勇气的回报：车队从2025年起让当时18岁的安东内利坐进座舱，而他在仅仅第二个F1赛季便夺得世界冠军。
并非梅赛德斯圈子里的所有人从一开始就认同这份勇气，车队领队托托·沃尔夫如今透露了这一点。
沃尔夫对天空体育表示：“我们有两个赞助商因此离开了我们。他们问我：‘基米·安东内利，这孩子到底是谁？’”“还有一些赞助商一直与我们合作到今天，他们现在正在收获回报。”
甚至在2024赛季开始之前，超级巨星刘易斯·汉密尔顿就宣布他将离开梅赛德斯前往法拉利。几个月来，媒体一直在猜测谁可能接替这位七届世界冠军。尤其是马克斯·维斯塔潘在夏天被视为热门候选人。也因为安东内利在2024年F2中未能达到高期望，直到28场比赛中的第15场才取得那个赛季两场胜利中的第一场。
据沃尔夫说，媒体本可以省去他们的猜测，因为实际上一切都很简单：“当刘易斯那天早上站在我门口时，一切对我来说都已经清楚了。他确认要去法拉利的那一刻，我就知道基米会坐进那辆车。”
沃尔夫回忆说，他不久后告诉了新闻主管兼现任副车队领队布拉德利·洛德和技术总监詹姆斯·艾利森。“我告诉他们：‘基米坐进那辆车了。’他们只是说：‘你在说什么？’但我们有数据。我们不需要更多确认。基米已经通过他在F4和区域方程式中的成功证明了这一点。其余的一切都一清二楚。”
杰罗姆·丹布罗西奥，梅赛德斯-AMG车手发展总监；托托·沃尔夫，梅赛德斯-AMG车队领队兼首席执行官；刘易斯·汉密尔顿，梅赛德斯-AMG
沃尔夫没有透露那两家在失去超级巨星汉密尔顿后不再愿意成为梅赛德斯合作伙伴的赞助商是谁。但已知时尚品牌汤米·希尔费格和体育用品制造商彪马在2024年底离开了车队。取而代之的是，阿迪达斯作为新的全球品牌加入。而与吉列的一项交易也已初具雏形，最终却不了了之。这个以剃须刀闻名的品牌转而去了奥迪。
但尽管周围许多人怀疑，将安东内利直接从二级方程式提拔到梅赛德斯厂队是否真的是个好主意，对沃尔夫来说，这"在任何时候都不是风险。有时有人问我为什么冒险。但我只承担经过计算的风险——最坏的结果也不过是我所负责的车队生活不会发生根本性改变。
"车队始终支持这个决定。[梅赛德斯首席执行官]奥拉[康林松]始终支持这个决定。没有任何疑虑。疑虑只来自外部。来自当时是车队合作伙伴而今天不再是的人。来自其他车队，来自其他觉得自己理应获得机会的车手。以及来自媒体。
“一开始人们就说：‘让一个18岁的年轻人开刘易斯·汉密尔顿之前开过的车，你们不是认真的吧。他在F2的赛季表现令人失望。他应该在F2再待一年，先证明自己真的够格。’”
2025年：对安东内利的质疑声变大
“然后，等我们把他放进车里，人们又说：‘他不该待在梅赛德斯。那对他的压力太大了。你们为什么不试着和威廉姆斯达成协议，像乔治那样给他一年、两年或三年来成长？’当然，在他连续九场比赛没有积分之后，这些声音变得更响了。”
当安东内利在2025年夏天于斯帕的车手赛道经历他首个赛季中最苦涩的比赛周末之一时——据沃尔夫说，其间还出现了“眼泪”——“那些说‘我早就告诉过你’的人突然获得了越来越大的声势。但对我们来说，对我个人来说，从来连一丝怀疑都没有。
安德烈亚·基米·安东内利，梅赛德斯，托托·沃尔夫，梅赛德斯
“2025年正是我所期待的那个赛季。我很清楚这会是一个至少为期两年的项目，而第二年需要确认我们在他身上所看到的东西。我认为今天我们坐在这里，已经得到了那份确认。这太不可思议了。我们真的得掐自己一下，因为在我们感觉，他作为一个11岁的孩子站在青训卡丁车车库里的情景仿佛就在昨天。
“然后一切发生得如此之快。他赢得了青训单座赛车系列赛，随后在二级方程式（F2）经历了艰难的一年。即便在那时，外界的人也开始怀疑他。我只是为车队感到无比自豪，因为每个人都继续相信他。而他做到了。”
英文原文
Toto Wolff: Two sponsors left Mercedes after promoting Kimi Antonelli into F1
Two sponsors turned their backs on Mercedes because of Kimi Antonelli, but after his world championship triumph Toto Wolff settles accounts with the critics of his decision
At the Mexico Grand Prix, Mercedes reaped the reward for the courage it showed in putting the then 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli in the cockpit from 2025 with his world championship triumph in his just second Formula 1 season.
It was courage that not everyone in the Mercedes sphere shared from the outset, as team principal Toto Wolff now reveals.
"We had two sponsors who left us because of it. They asked me: 'Kimi Antonelli, who is this kid supposed to be?'" Wolff told Sky Sports. "And there were others who have stayed with us to this day, and they are now reaping the rewards."
Even before the start of the 2024 season, superstar Lewis Hamilton had announced that he would leave Mercedes for Ferrari. For months, the media speculated about who could succeed the seven-time world champion. Max Verstappen in particular was regarded as a hot candidate in the summer. Also because Antonelli had been unable to meet the high expectations in Formula 2 in 2024 and only scored his first of two wins that season in the 15th of 28 races.
According to Wolff, the media could have spared themselves their speculation, because in truth everything was very simple: "When Lewis stood at my door that morning, everything was already clear to me. The moment he confirmed that he was going to Ferrari, I knew Kimi would be in the car."
Wolff recalls telling his press chief and current deputy team principal Bradley Lord and technical director James Allison soon afterwards. "I told them: 'Kimi is in the car.' They just said: 'What are you talking about?' But we had the data. We didn't need any more confirmation. Kimi had already confirmed it through his success in Formula 4 and Formula Regional. The rest was crystal clear."
Jerome d'Ambrosio, Driver Development Director, Mercedes-AMG, Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG
Wolff does not reveal who the two sponsors were that no longer wanted to be Mercedes partners without superstar Hamilton. But it is known that fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger and sports goods manufacturer Puma left the team at the end of 2024. In their place, with Adidas a new global brand came on board. And with Gillette, a deal was already taking shape that ultimately came to nothing. The brand known for its razors went to Audi instead.
But while many around them doubted whether it really would be a good idea to lift Antonelli straight from Formula 2 into the works Mercedes, for Wolff it seemed "at no point to be a risk. Sometimes I am asked why I take risks. But I only take calculated risks - ones where the worst possible outcome is that our life in the team I am responsible for would still not fundamentally change.
"The team always stood behind this decision. [Mercedes CEO] Ola [Kallenius] always stood behind this decision. There were no doubts whatsoever. The doubts only came from outside. From people who were partners of the team at the time and no longer are today. From other teams, from other drivers who felt they themselves deserved a chance. And from the media.
"It started with people saying: 'You can't be serious about putting an 18-year-old in the car that Lewis Hamilton previously drove. He had a disappointing Formula 2 season. He should do another year in Formula 2 and first prove that he really is good enough.'"
2025: Doubts about Antonelli become loud
"Then, once we had put him in the car, people said: 'He shouldn't be in a Mercedes. That's far too much pressure for him. Why didn't you try to reach an agreement with Williams and give him, like George, one, two or three years to develop?' And of course those voices became even louder after he had gone nine races in a row without points."
When Antonelli endured one of the bitterest race weekends of his debut season at the drivers' circuit of Spa in the summer of 2025, during which, according to Wolff, there were also "tears", "those who said 'I told you so' suddenly gained more and more momentum. But for us, for me personally, there was never even the slightest doubt.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Toto Wolff, Mercedes
"2025 was exactly the season I had expected. It was clear to me that it would be a project over at least two years, with the second year needing to confirm what we had seen in him. And I think today we are sitting here and have received that confirmation. It is incredible. We really have to pinch ourselves, because it feels to us as if it was only yesterday that he was standing in a garage in junior karting as an 11-year-old.
"And then everything happens so quickly. He wins the junior single-seater series, then experiences a difficult year in Formula 2. And even back then, people from the outside began to doubt him. I am just incredibly proud of the team, that everyone continued to believe in him. And he delivered."
Motorsport.com ·
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