"I think it's your looks": Mercedes boss Toto Wolff teases Kimi Antonelli for being voted the driver of the day in Chinese GP

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff teased Andrea Kimi Antonelli after he was voted the Driver of the Day in China despite an initial P8 finish in the race. Wolff mentioned that he was perhaps voted because of his looks and also dragged his race engineer, Peter Bonnington, in the banter for his "looks."

The Chinese Grand Prix was once again a decent race for the Brackley-based outfit, with their senior driver, George Russell, taking the final place on the podium after a close battle with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. So far this season, Russell's on-track performance has been very consistent and has helped them to gain points in both races and the Sprint in China.

As for 17-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli, he finished in P8. While the result was not very impressive considering the pace he had, Antonelli was still voted the Driver of the Day by fans, which Toto Wolff confirmed on his radio, to which he sounded rather confused.

"Kimi, Driver of The Day, We just saw on the screen," Toto Wolff said.

"Me?" Questioned Antonelli.

Antonelli then mentioned that it was "weird" that he was given the DOTD, but Wolff explained that it was perhaps because of his looks.

"I think it's your looks and your target group."

"And obviously the looks of your race engineer also," he added, mentioning Peter Bonnington.

Antonelli had a relatively tough race comparing his earlier results, but, as he mentioned, it was mostly because of some damage he picked up early in the race.

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli reveals early damage in China hindered his performance

The race start was a chaotic one heading into turns 1 and 2. Both Ferraris made contact and the field bunched up. Around this time, Antonelli's Mercedes picked up some debris that damaged it.

Discussing it after the race, Kimi Antonelli claimed that it hindered his performance.

"I struggled this race, [it] was quite difficult to hold on," he said. "Already from Lap 1 I felt that something was weird with the car, and then eventually after the race the team told me about the damage."

"It looks like I hit some debris and that affected the performance quite heavily. I struggled with the rear in particular after that and that was something I wasn’t expecting. It definitely hindered my pace, but it was good learning to have to deal with that," he added (via F1).

Although he initially finished in eighth place, Kimi Antonelli was promoted to P6 after Ferrari's double disqualification. The team currently placed second in the Constructors' standings with 57 points after two consecutive weekends of consistent performance.