Nico Rosberg warns: Is there more behind Wolff's criticism of Antonelli?

(Motorsport-Total.com) - Nico Rosberg sees Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff's recent comments about Andrea Kimi Antonelli as a sign of behind-the-scenes pressure. Wolff is "very calculated in his statements," the 2016 Formula 1 World Champion explained in the Sky Sports F1 podcast .

After the Italian rookie had performed surprisingly well at the beginning of his first season at Mercedes, for example securing pole position for the sprint in Miami, he has recently made a number of mistakes and not achieved good results.

After a ninth place at his home race in Monza , Wolff was unusually critical : "Disappointing this weekend. Disappointing. You can't put the car in the gravel and expect to be at the front. The whole race was disappointing. That doesn't change my support and my confidence in his future because I believe he will be very, very, very good. But today was disappointing," said the Mercedes team boss.

Rosberg expressed surprise at his former boss Wolff's tone: "That's astonishing, because the only option at the moment is to give Kimi as much time as possible in a calm manner. That also includes not criticizing him publicly."

"When Toto changes his stance, there's usually a reason behind it. He's very calculated in his statements. Perhaps he wants to put pressure on Kimi and his family to reconsider their approach," explains the former Mercedes driver.

Rosberg described Antonelli as a "generational talent," but admitted that his entry was more difficult than expected: "If you look at the statistics, it's 19-0 for George Russell in the race and 17-2 in qualifying. If you count the mistakes, it would probably be closer to 15-1. That's really tough and unfortunate because we all want him to be successful. But at some point, the clock starts ticking."

The 2016 World Cup winner is in favor of giving Antonelli a contract extension anyway: "You should trust him because he needs everything that can help him right now. In the worst case scenario, you always have the opportunity to make a different decision in the winter. You don't have to say that publicly now, but I would consider it."