Wolff issues title warning despite Antonelli's growing lead

Kimi Antonelli's championship lead stands at 81 points after his Spanish GP victory with nine scheduled races to go this season; watch every session of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from September 24-26 with a Saturday race, live on Sky Sports F1

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says Kimi Antonelli must remain wary about the potential of unexpected "black swan events" derailing his championship bid despite the Italian driver's large points lead.

Antonelli's back-to-back wins in Monza and Madrid have increased his championship advantage over team-mate George Russell to 81 points with a scheduled nine rounds remaining.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and McLaren's Lando Norris, third and fourth in the standings respectively, are now over 100 points behind.

Despite his dominant position, Antonelli has repeatedly stressed recently that he is driving without thinking about the world championship in mind - an approach that his team boss insists is genuine.

"The way this kid is able to compartmentalise and be the young kid and then get into the car and be the mature racing driver.

"That's why if Kimi says to himself, 'I'm not thinking about the championship,' he's not thinking about the championship.

"And we are also trying, the parents and myself and the team, saying this is not finished."

Antonelli has led the championship ever since victory at the season's third round in Japan on March 29 with his 81-point advantage after Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix the largest he has held all season.

But Wolff says neither driver nor team can afford to rule out the unpredictable.

"There are black swan events, they can come and you're losing something out of your hand when you didn't think it was possible to lose," added the Mercedes team principal.

Speaking after victory at the Madring, Antonelli also stressed that nothing was won yet.

"Yeah, it [the points lead] is great, but we've just got to keep pushing, keep delivering the results and just trying to do the best job I can whenever I go on track," he said.

"Because, of course, yes, I have a big lead, but you never know what can happen. So just need to be ready for anything and keep maximising every opportunity I get, and then we'll see where we end up at the end of the year."