Mercedes is encouraging Kimi Antonelli to focus on the positive learnings he can take from his rookie season in F1 2025.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Bradley Lord: Mercedes is encouraging Kimi Antonelli to focus on learning<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s successor following the departure of the seven-time F1 World Champion for Ferrari.<\/p>\n
Antonelli has shown flashes of magic that have underlined why Mercedes has such faith in him, with a maiden \u2018pole position\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a difficult moment for me because I feel like I have no confidence in pushing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI tried to push a bit too much and then I spun, and then it kind of hurts the confidence even more.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the way I\u2019m driving, I\u2019m just increasing the problem. And that gives me even less confidence with the car.\u201d<\/p>\n Explaining that he felt he was driving \u201cunnaturally\u201d and \u201cforced\u201d, Antonelli was in danger of spiralling, his crisis of confidence coming so early in his F1 career that the team\u2019s experience in dealing with the bigger picture is essential in bringing back that mental peace he requires.<\/p>\n To that end, Antonelli does have the full support of Mercedes, with the team cognisant of its role in helping ensure Antonelli doesn\u2019t fall into a mental trap from which he could struggle to emerge.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d Mercedes\u2019 team representative Bradley Lord told select media, including PlanetF1.com, at the Hungarian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n \u201cThat doesn\u2019t stop honest conversations if things are not hitting objectives and things like that. I\u2019m not saying that\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cSo that\u2019s 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\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Addressing how Antonelli\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that a rookie season has ups and downs, and it\u2019s full of learning \u2013 that\u2019s going to be the positive learnings and the positive surprises, and also the more difficult moments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s certainly true that Kimi, as one would expect where the car has become more difficult \u2013 both drivers were lacking confidence in the ability to commit to the corner with the car \u2013 that has been a struggle for him as well, has cost him confidence, and the step backwards in performance that we\u2019ve seen has meant that we are more vulnerable to those early exits and qualifying things than was the case earlier in the season.<\/p>\n \u201cSo that\u2019s certainly a difficult moment for the team as a whole, and for him in particular.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the key thing is, we\u2019ve already said this first and foremost, it\u2019s the car that isn\u2019t there, not any doubt or any lack of anything on Kimi\u2019s side, apart from experience that he hasn\u2019t yet got and hasn\u2019t yet had the opportunity to acquire.<\/p>\n \u201cSo 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\u2019re doing with the car and how he can extract the maximum from it.<\/p>\n \u201cFor us, the priority is giving him a car with which he can express the talent that we know he\u2019s got and continue to realise the potential that we know is there as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n More on Kimi Antonelli\u2019s first season in F1<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 Ranked: All the F1 driver moves made for the F1 2025 season<\/a><\/p>\n