Antonelli Pays for Mercedes’ Mistakes: We Analyze His Difficult Season

Mercedes Admits Errors in Car Development, Affecting Kimi Antonelli

The Mercedes team has acknowledged making mistakes in the development of its Formula 1 car, which has negatively impacted the performance of the young Italian driver Kimi Antonelli, according to statements by technical director James Allison. Antonelli, 18 years old, achieved his first podium in F1 by finishing third in Canada in June, but since then he has not managed to score points. The driver has experienced two retirements since Montreal, in addition to a seventeenth place in the sprint race in Belgium last Saturday and a sixteenth place in the main Grand Prix on Sunday. Antonelli, who achieved pole position in the Miami sprint and is the youngest race leader in the history of the sport, has had four retirements in the last seven races. In Belgium, he admitted that he lacks confidence in the car and that he is not driving as he would like.

I think he, like the rest of us, is very fed up with a series of results that are well below what we were achieving collectively at the beginning of the year,” Allison said in an analysis of the Belgian race.

James Allison, technical director

Allison added that he hopes Antonelli finds solace in the fact that the team has made incorrect decisions with the car, which has affected his competitiveness and that of George Russell. “If the car isn’t where it needs to be, it’ll be difficult to get through the qualifying stages in your rookie F1 season,” Allison explained. Allison emphasized that it is evident that the car needs to improve and that Antonelli’s performance will improve when this happens. Mercedes holds third place in the general classification, 28 points behind Ferrari, which is in second place. Russell has achieved a victory in Canada and has been on the podium five times, placing fourth with 157 points, compared to Antonelli’s 63.

• Antonelli admits his performance has taken a “step back”.
• Mercedes calls a meeting after the Belgian GP.
• Verstappen will remain at Red Bull until 2026, according to Marko.

Lewis Hamilton, who was replaced by Antonelli when the Brit joined Ferrari, showed his support for the Italian after Saturday’s qualifying in Spa. “He told me to keep my head up and that it’s normal to have bad weekends, and to keep believing,” Antonelli told reporters. Hamilton stated that he couldn’t imagine what the rookie was going through. “He’s been doing fantastically. But being thrown in at the deep end at 18… he hadn’t even had his driver’s license when he started racing,” he added.