Wolff says Alain Prost conversation shaped his approach to Mercedes drivers

Toto Wolff says a conversation with Alain Prost during his rookie days in Formula 1 shaped the way he manages Mercedes drivers. He says he has always tried to treat them even-handedly and transparently.

That approach is in focus amid online debate over whether Mercedes is favouring Kimi Antonelli over George Russell. Antonelli leads Russell by 102 points in the drivers’ championship; Wolff rejected the suggestion and said the team treats both drivers equally.

Wolff recalled asking Prost on a race grid why things had gone wrong between him and Ayrton Senna. In Wolff’s account, Prost said McLaren’s drivers could feel favoured for a time, then suspect team politics had turned against them and feel unwanted.

Wolff said he took that account as a challenge to keep the treatment of his drivers balanced. He acknowledged that was not easy during Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes partnership from 2013 to 2016, but said integrity in those relationships mattered to him.

He also pointed to the long ties he has with current drivers: Wolff said Mercedes has had Antonelli since he was 11, while Russell has been part of its set-up since he was 17. He described himself as close to Russell and said they spend time together away from the track. The favouritism allegations frustrate Wolff, he said, but he pays them no attention.