Kimi Antonelli’s miserable run of form at Mercedes continued at the Dutch Grand Prix as his race was hampered by incidents and penalties.
Since grabbing his maiden podium in F1 at the Canadian GP, the Italian has scored just one point. He was looking to turn his form around at the Dutch Grand Prix, but his misery continued as he was knocked out in Q2 in 11th.
Antonelli was enjoying a good race at Zandvoort as he climbed his way into the points after Lewis Hamilton crashed out on lap 23. On lap 53, he came into the pits to undercut Charles Leclerc for P5.
RANKDRIVERTEAMPOINTS1Oscar PiastriMcLaren252Max VerstappenRed Bull183Isack HadjarRacing Bulls154George RussellMercedes125Alex AlbonWilliams106Oliver BearmanHaas87Lance StrollAston Martin68Fernando AlonsoAston Martin49Yuki TsunodaRed Bull210Esteban OconHaas1
The Ferrari star pitted the following lap, despite Leclerc telling the pit wall he wanted to stay out as he felt he was running well on the hard compound. He rejoined the race narrowly ahead of Antonelli, heading into the banking at turn three.
The Mercedes driver took the low line to try and pass Leclerc, but he ended up clipping his rear tyre, sending him slamming into the wall and into retirement. After the safety car was deployed, Antonelli was hit with a 10-second time penalty.
Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images
It got even worse for the 19-year-old as he was given a further five seconds for speeding in the pit lane. He came across the line in sixth, but was demoted to 16th with his 15-second penalty.
Antonelli was seen apologising to Leclerc for the incident as he was hit with two penalty points to his FIA superlicence, taking him to four over 12 months. The young driver appeared to be ‘shaken’ by the crash as he debriefed with the media.
“He [Leclerc] was driven around by Antonelli. We spoke to the gentlemen afterward in the square and Leclerc said: ‘Yes, first of all, I’m not entirely happy with Ferrari’s strategy’. Of course, he wanted to stay out,” said journalist Ronald Vording via Motorsport.com Nederland.
“When I said: ‘Do you agree with it then?’ he didn’t really answer, but he understands it a bit more now than in the emotion.
“And he didn’t want to judge Antonelli too harshly. He said: ‘Yes, too aggressive. He made a mistake’. I then said: ‘A rookie mistake’. And then he said: ‘Yes, this is a mistake. You can do that in your first year. You can also do this in your fifth year, it’s just a case of being too aggressive’.
“Then came Antonelli, who looked a little shaken I must say. And he said: ‘Yeah, next time, I’ll think twice.”
READ MORE: Know all about 2025 Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli including stats
Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty ImagesKimi Antonelli must make improvements as Mercedes form plummets further
Antonelli is now level on points with Williams’ Alex Albon, who finished P5, in the standings after his Dutch GP disaster. Mercedes teammate George Russell came home fourth; the Silver Arrows would be four points behind Ferrari had the Italian kept his P6 finish.
Jolyon Palmer thinks Antonelli has created a one-man team at Mercedes with his recent performances. Russell has only finished outside the points once all season, while the 19-year-old has just 16 points in his last nine races.
Position Constructors’ Standings PointsPts 1 584 2 260 3 248 4 214 5 80 6 62 7 60 8 51 9 44 10 20
Karun Chandhok says Antonelli has not met expectations in 2025, with improvements drastically needed if Mercedes want to finish second ahead of Ferrari. Jacques Villeneuve has questioned the influence of Antonelli’s father on his F1 career, as he seems more involved than the team.
The pressure is mounting on the Italian as his contract is set to expire at the end of the season. Antonelli was ‘offered’ to Sauber for 2025; it may have been wiser to place him in a midfield team for his rookie season rather than replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.