In the wake of Kimi Antonelli's maiden win, Toto Wolff has called on the media to play down talk of a title challenge.

Such was Sky's David Croft's hysteria when the Italian teenage claimed pole position on Saturday, there must have been concern for those around him that he was on the verge of a seizure.

Seemingly, the broadcaster's enthusiasm for the Mercedes youngster is infectious, for the following day, in its build up to the race, the Sky team was hyping Antonelli to an extent usually reserved for the favoured Brit(ish) driver of the day.

At race end it predictably got worse, with the Sky team, clearly having forgotten about George Russell - see previous sentence - or perhaps wanting give the Italian race winner honorary British citizenship - were asking if the Shanghai victory signalled a potential bid for the title from Antonelli.

Understandably, those not tasked to create such hyperbole, those charged with actually looking after the youngster, are concerned about this new media pressure.

"You have to keep your feet on the ground," urged Toto Wolff, "he's had a great race. "George was blocked at the beginning so they weren't head-to-head," he added.

"He will make mistakes," he said of Antonelli, "and will have great days like today and all of that is going to add to hopefully being a World Champion one day. But we shouldn't be carried away with World Championship talk, it's no good for him and not good for expectations of anyone."

Kimi's father, Marco, who the Sky team helpfully told viewers "had been with Kimi all his racing career", was also keen to play down the hysteria.

"I don't know honestly because Kimi is young and I think he's not perfect in this moment," he told a clearly disappointed Sky team. "He's a good driver, of course, but experience is very important and I think George is a very super driver with a lot of experience. It's difficult to beat him.

"The championship is long," he added, "and this race Kimi did a good job but George was blocked behind the Ferraris."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by flyinglap, 16 minutes ago

"I fully agree with Kkiirmki. Antonelli has already achieved a lot in motorsport, at a (record) young age. Even making allowances for all the family support and the push from Mercedes, these are more or less the same circumstances of many (most) young drivers nowadays, so this is not by chance. Remember, Lewis Hamilton could have been world champion directly in his first F1 season. Antonelli is in his second season, at a top team, with the best car. And, following this first win, he feels no pressure any more, and he has nothing to prove and nothing to lose. He can make Russell's life very difficult indeed."

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2. Posted by Kkiirmki, 1 hour ago

"Why? Is the team really only supporting Russell to win the title this year? Sounds like they've already come to an agreement that Russell is the number one driver and Antonelli's only there to support him, picking up the odd victory when Russell's race is "compromised". This win will be the first of many for Antonelli, and if he's good enough to be in F1, then he's good enough to win the championship and should have equal opportunity to do so. "

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Lay off Antonelli title talk says Wolff

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