Kimi Antonelli left Monza with a major championship advantage after winning the Italian Grand Prix from 19th place. The result pushed him 66 points clear of George Russell, 76 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton and 96 points ahead of Lando Norris, with 10 scheduled rounds still to go.
The size of the lead is significant, but Mercedes is not treating Monza as a perfect guide for what comes next. Toto Wolff said the team was pleased to perform well there, especially because it was not sure how competitive the car would be after Ferrari brought an engine upgrade and others improved on the chassis side. Even so, he stressed that Monza is an outlier because it heavily rewards straight-line performance.
Why Monza may not repeat itself
Wolff pointed out that Mercedes' strength at Monza came from deployment of its power unit, particularly on the electrical side. That helped on a track where straight-line speed matters more than at many other venues, but he said the next race in Madrid will be a very different challenge.
"We must not get ahead of ourselves now, thinking, 'well, we can wait for the upgrade until Malaysia'. We know that it's going to be a big fight in Madrid. Our car hasn't got the performance levels that it has in Monza for the next race in Madrid," Wolff said.
That is why Mercedes expects the Spanish Grand Prix at a new track in Madrid to be a more difficult test. The team will then head to Baku later this month, before planning to bring upgrades in Malaysia at the start of next month. Wolff said those upgrades would help a lot in Madrid, but Mercedes will not have them in time for that race.
The title picture is still open
Antonelli's Monza victory was a psychological blow to his rivals, but Mercedes knows the season is far from over. With races still to come, the team is preparing for weekends where the goal may be points rather than wins.
"We know that our upgrades would help a lot in Madrid but we haven't got them. So we just need to do our best and that could mean that some of the race weekends, not winning, but just scoring points," Wolff said.
For now, Antonelli has the momentum and the points buffer. The question is whether Mercedes can protect that lead once the calendar moves away from Monza and into tracks that may expose different weaknesses.
