Kimi Antonelli during the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco. Photo: Race Pictures.

Antonelli’s gains ‘clear to see’, Mercedes driver gets backing from F1 race winner

07:58, 17 Sep

bySamson Ero

Kimi has received backing from his teammate, George Russell, amid his difficult run at the Mercedes outfit. The 27-year-old emphasised that the rookie’s progress is evident, despite his recent underwhelming results.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli duirng the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. Photo: Race PIctures

“He’s probably actually performing better.”

- George Russell

Russell, who spoke to GPblog during the Italian Grand Prix, was quick to come to the defence of his teammate, especially off the back of the challenging weekend he had in front of his home crowd. The four-time Formula 1 race winner also highlighted how the 19-year-old has progressed with regard to his deficit in lap time compared to the start of the campaign.

“As a young driver, you’ve got to look at it objectively, which is in terms of his own personal performance. You can argue he’s probably actually performing better than he did at the start of the year when you look at the deficit in terms of lap time.”

“It’s just the differences. In Canada, when we were on pole, he was in fourth place over half a second behind, and in Spa he was only three-tenths behind me. But that was the difference between being out in Q1 or getting through to Q3.”

Russell on Mercedes’ confidence in Antonelli

George Russell also reiterated Mercedes’ confidence in the talents of Kimi Antonelli. The King's Lynn native detailed how the development of the W16 car has also played a part in what now appears to be a stall in the progression recorded by Antonelli so far.

“The team have made it very clear he shouldn’t worry about those results, he’s still doing a very good job considering his experience.”

“The car has brought us both backwards. So that’s, of course, very difficult to accept when you’re in that position. It’s never easy when the car is not performing as you expect.”

Antonelli has witnessed his 2025 campaign take a dip, particularly following the highs of his Canadian Grand Prix podium. The 19-year-old, however, will now shift his focus to recording improved results when the F1 grid heads to Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

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