Mercedes is encouraging Kimi Antonelli to focus on the positive learnings he can take from his rookie season in F1 2025.
It’s been a season of mixed fortunes for the 18-year-old Italian, who burst into Formula 1 with Mercedes this year on a wave of hype.
Bradley Lord: Mercedes is encouraging Kimi Antonelli to focus on learning
As a product of the Mercedes driver programme, Antonelli arrived in Formula 1 this year with plenty of hype and expectation around him after a strong junior category career.
While his Formula 2 campaign had been somewhat subdued in 2024, he was put through a rigorous preparation programme of TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) outings with Mercedes, who duly confirmed him as Lewis Hamilton’s successor following the departure of the seven-time F1 World Champion for Ferrari.
Antonelli has shown flashes of magic that have underlined why Mercedes has such faith in him, with a maiden ‘pole position’ in the Sprint event in Miami, a third-place finish in Canada and, perhaps his most impressive drive of all, finishing in fourth place in the season opener in Australia on a day of tricky mixed conditions.
With five consistent strong points finishes from the first six races, the second quarter of the championship has proven more difficult. Not only did Mercedes introduce upgrades that took the W16 down a more uncomfortable development path, one that has been rowed back on by removing a rear suspension upgrade introduced at Imola, but Antonelli has gone through a period of lower confidence.
This became particularly evident at the Belgian Grand Prix, when a clearly upset Antonelli explained to the media, including PlanetF1.com, that he was lacking confidence in his approach.
“It’s a difficult moment for me because I feel like I have no confidence in pushing,” he said.
“I tried to push a bit too much and then I spun, and then it kind of hurts the confidence even more.
“With the way I’m driving, I’m just increasing the problem. And that gives me even less confidence with the car.”
Explaining that he felt he was driving “unnaturally” and “forced”, Antonelli was in danger of spiralling, his crisis of confidence coming so early in his F1 career that the team’s experience in dealing with the bigger picture is essential in bringing back that mental peace he requires.
To that end, Antonelli does have the full support of Mercedes, with the team cognisant of its role in helping ensure Antonelli doesn’t fall into a mental trap from which he could struggle to emerge.
“I think every human being responds positively to knowing they have the support of their team and the belief of their team, and you know that that group has faith in them,” Mercedes’ team representative Bradley Lord told select media, including PlanetF1.com, at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
“That doesn’t stop honest conversations if things are not hitting objectives and things like that. I’m not saying that’s the case with Kimi, just talking in general terms, but yeah, every human being responds to that sort of positive feeling of support and being part of a team and being part of a collective endeavour.
“So that’s been the case all the way through this first season. It was the case last season as well, as we were building towards it. You’ve got to not get too lost in the moment and step back and see this all as part of a learning curve and a development trajectory, which is what this year is all about.”
The rollback of the rear suspension did seem to have an immediate impact, with both Antonelli and experienced teammate George Russell straight back in the mix in Budapest. While Antonelli’s end result of 10th was somewhat underwhelming, it was due to a lack of execution rather than a lack of performance, and the Italian appeared visibly reassured as F1 entered the summer break shutdown.
Addressing how Antonelli’s season has played out so far, Lord said the key focus for the team is in giving him a car with which he can feel confident to thrive, knowing that the car itself has caused problems for both him and Russell.
“We know that a rookie season has ups and downs, and it’s full of learning – that’s going to be the positive learnings and the positive surprises, and also the more difficult moments,” he said.
“It’s certainly true that Kimi, as one would expect where the car has become more difficult – both drivers were lacking confidence in the ability to commit to the corner with the car – that has been a struggle for him as well, has cost him confidence, and the step backwards in performance that we’ve seen has meant that we are more vulnerable to those early exits and qualifying things than was the case earlier in the season.
“So that’s certainly a difficult moment for the team as a whole, and for him in particular.
“I think the key thing is, we’ve already said this first and foremost, it’s the car that isn’t there, not any doubt or any lack of anything on Kimi’s side, apart from experience that he hasn’t yet got and hasn’t yet had the opportunity to acquire.
“So our approach is very much one of encouraging him to see, to take the learning from these experiences, rather than focusing on the outcomes and then focusing on what is the process of regaining that confidence and regaining that performance, and that comes from spending time with the team, spending time with the engineers, really understanding what we’re doing with the car and how he can extract the maximum from it.
“For us, the priority is giving him a car with which he can express the talent that we know he’s got and continue to realise the potential that we know is there as well.
“There’s full honesty on where we are and what we can improve, and then full support in that process of improving on the technical side, to give the drivers the tool that they need to deliver performance, and then for them to achieve that delivery.”
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Antonelli, who is without a confirmed contract for F1 2026 but is expected to be confirmed as remaining with Mercedes, has been open about how Mercedes is working with him to ensure he doesn’t fall prey to overthinking his situation, and said his emotional release at Spa was better for him than restraining the frustration.
“Sometimes the best way is just to let it all out, and instead of keeping it for yourself, because I think, in some cases, it’s just gonna hurt even more,” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com, in Hungary.
“I was very frustrated with my performances, because I feel like the potential is just so much higher than what I’ve been showing, so definitely, I was really frustrated, and it was a good moment to let it all out. It definitely made me feel much better afterwards.”
Aside from that great third place in Canada, Antonelli hasn’t had much by way of positive results to take away since the Miami Grand Prix back in May, but hope is there that the learning – from both driver and team – is there to bounce back in the second half of the championship.
Antonelli, who turns 19 next week, hasn’t proven a disappointment, but nor has he set the world alight in the Max Verstappen-esque fashion that so many rookies are held up against nowadays.
As the first rookie driver Mercedes has gambled on since returning to Formula 1 in 2010, has the process of helping him realise his potential been more difficult that was perhaps anticipated pre-season?
“No, I don’t think so,” Lord said.
“I think we knew we were setting a very high… It’s a huge challenge, not just coming into Formula 1 full stop, is a huge thing to do.
“To do so in a team with the level of expectation in it that Mercedes has is an even bigger thing.
“We knew that and took that decision with open eyes, and our job is to support Kimi to deliver in that environment, and to give him the conditions to deliver and to realise that potential, so he knew the season would have ups and downs.
“The more you can give a rookie driver a car that they can be confident in, that is predictable, where they can access the performance with confidence, the easier that process will be – that’s where we have fallen down in the second quarter of the season, and hopefully we can find a better direction as we go forward.”
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