Andrea Kimi Antonelli is desperate to get his ‘confidence’ in the Mercedes W16 back at the 2025 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix, after scoring points in one of the last seven rounds.
The 18-year-old has endured a horrid spell since the start of the European leg of the 2025 F1 season on home turf at Imola in May. Only when Formula 1 took a brief trip across the pond for the Canadian GP in June did Antonelli add to the 48 points he held leaving the Miami GP.
Antonelli has even only finished three of the past seven Grands Prix. The Italian retired from the Emilia Romagna GP owing to a throttle issue, the Spanish GP after an engine failure, the Austrian GP after crashing into Max Verstappen and the British GP when hit by Isack Hadjar.
His sole highlight from the last seven rounds was Antonelli’s debut F1 podium with P3 in the Canadian GP. Last week’s Belgian GP produced another low point, too, as Antonelli qualified P20 and finished the F1 Sprint in P17, while qualifying P18 and ending the Grand Prix in P16.
Photo by Andrea Diodato/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesAndrea Kimi Antonelli confirms Mercedes will revert to their old rear suspension in Hungary
Mercedes were baffled by their pace deficit to McLaren in the Belgian GP, as George Russell also only qualified P13 and ended the Sprint at Spa in P12 before qualifying P6 and finishing the Grand Prix in P5. The Briton was also 34.863s from the lead and 14.678s to the podium.
Friday 1st August to Sunday 3rd August
Friday 1st August 11:30 1st Practice Friday 1st August 15:00 2nd Practice Saturday 2nd August 10:30 3rd Practice Saturday 2nd August 14:00 1st Qualifying Saturday 2nd August 14:25 2nd Qualifying Saturday 2nd August 14:48 3rd Qualifying Sunday 3rd August 13:00 Race
So, Antonelli has confirmed that Mercedes will now revert to their previous rear suspension set-up for this weekend’s Hungarian GP. The rookie wonderkid hopes the change allows him to rebuild his confidence with the W16, having failed to adapt to the Silver Arrows’ upgrade.
Antonelli said, via quotes by Motorsport.com: “We’re going back to the old suspension and that, hopefully, will bring the feeling back because since we moved to that suspension apart from [in] Canada, I’ve been struggling to drive the car and getting the confidence.
“Probably also my side, I didn’t adapt the best because I was always trying to keep my style and to drive the car the way I wanted it. But it didn’t really work out, and George, on the other hand, has been adapting better.
“He has a different driving style, but he’s been able to adapt a bit better, and I think that’s what’s been hurting me in this European season. Hopefully, by going with the old suspension, it will bring back a bit [of] the feeling I had.”
Mercedes are now regretting their mistake with their rear suspension upgrade
Antonelli admitting that Mercedes are reverting to their previous rear suspension set-up is a clear sign that the Silver Arrows regret their mistake of sticking with the design after the red herrings of Russell’s Canadian GP win from pole position and the Italian’s first podium in F1.
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Position Drivers’ Championship PointsPts 1 266 2 250 3 185 4 157 5 139 6 109 7 63
Mercedes revived their rear suspension upgrade in Canada, having benched it for the events in Monaco and Spain following its debut at Imola. The upgrade was designed to increase the anti-lift on the rear of Russell and Antonelli’s car under braking and improve their tyre wear.
But the gains the Silver Arrows enjoyed in Montreal, where Russell earned their first and so far only pole position and race win this season, did not follow Mercedes back to Europe. So, Mercedes feel their rear suspension upgrade led their engineers astray and will axe it again.
Antonelli especially struggled for high-speed stability around Spa, where Russell hinted the FIA’s flexible front wing clampdown is hurting Mercedes. So, reverting to their previous rear suspension set-up may not solve all of the Silver Arrows’ issues at this week’s Hungarian GP.