Mercedes drivers warned Toto Wolff “will not wait around” to impose F1 team orders amid Ferrari threat

Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner believes Mercedes boss Toto Wolff will not hesitate to impose team orders on his drivers if the threat from Ferrari increases.

Despite some hairy moments during wheel-to-wheel combat in Canada and Barcelona, Mercedes has so far allowed Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell to race each other freely as they battle for world championship glory.

Antonelli’s late retirement from second place in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, coupled with Lewis Hamilton winning, saw the seven-time world champion move just 41 points behind the Italian teenager, with Russell a further nine points back in third place. 

With Ferrari and Hamilton emerging as an increasing threat, and Mercedes battling reliability concerns, Steiner reckons Wolff will not shy away from using team orders if he feels it is necessary. 

"Kimi won five races; George won one. That says it all," Steiner told The Red Flags Podcast. ”Therefore, I think Kimi is still, as you call it, in the driver's seat. But I think Mercedes lets them race freely if the performance of Ferrari was a one-off in Barcelona.

"I think if the performance of Ferrari continues, Toto will come down to give team orders, and I think he already pointed to that if Ferrari comes near because Toto will not lose a championship because he didn't give team orders.

"He wants to win, I mean he hasn't won now for a while, he's ready to win another championship. For Toto, winning means Mercedes winning, aka Toto winning. Who is winning for him? I don't think he really cares.

"I think as soon as Toto feels that Ferrari is going to be a real contender, like they were in Barcelona, he will do it. He will not wait around. They will watch the next race, see how it goes there. And I think they are already planning, for sure they held meetings. 'How are we going to deal with the situation if Ferrari comes close?’"

After the race in Barcelona, Wolff admitted the way Antonelli and Russell battled each other is something Mercedes “need to discuss with them for the future”. 

"I've always said that there is a third party now getting involved in the championship fight, constructor and driver,” Wolff said. 

"And in that respect, we will discuss internally with the two drivers how we want to handle a situation where we risk holding each other up. And I think it's not going to be a problem. It's just maybe we need to recalibrate."