Wolff 'overwhelmed' by Antonelli's first win and China podium

SHANGHAI, March 15 - Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said he had been overwhelmed by Kimi Antonelli's first Formula One win on Sunday and a Chinese Grand Prix podium that highlighted his team's past, present and future.

Italian Antonelli, 19, was joined by championship-leading teammate George Russell in a Mercedes one-two finish with Lewis Hamilton, who won six of his seven F1 titles with Mercedes, third for his first Ferrari podium.

Hamilton's old race engineer Peter 'Bono' Bonnington, now working with Antonelli, also joined the three drivers on the podium.

"That podium was probably one of the best moments I've ever had in Formula One," said Wolff.

"The three of them, with Bono right in the middle... to be honest, it's rarely that I'm overwhelmed but that is such a moment."

The Austrian had pointed on Saturday, when Antonelli became the youngest driver ever to take a pole position in a full grand prix, to the decision to bring him in as a rookie last year as Hamilton's replacement.

Some critics questioned that, asking if the youngster was ready and might have been brought in too early, but he has paid back their faith.

"I think it's maybe come earlier than I thought," said Wolff of Antonelli's success.

"Last year we said that it's going to be a difficult year with many ups and downs and mistakes and then... bang! Second race and he's controlled it at the front, he's driven very well today.

"So he's probably a little bit better than the trajectory that I thought."

Antonelli, the first Italian race winner since Giancarlo Fisichella 20 years ago and the second youngest F1 winner of all time, is now only four points behind Russell in the standings.

He said on Saturday he wanted to put Italy back on top and he did so, but there was also a heart-stopping moment three laps from the end that showed he still has much to learn.

"I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack towards the end with a (tyre) flat spot," he said of the moment where he locked up and ran wide, losing precious seconds to the chasing Russell.

"There’s so much that I’ve learned, but first of all it’s never to relax too much because today it went well, but it could have been worse," he said.

"Just always try to stay on point and keep the focus because today at the end I opened the room for mistakes and the mistake happened. I just need to make sure it doesn’t happen again." REUTERS