Kimi Antonelli “injects pain” but reveals Mercedes response to his “mistakes”

Kimi Antonelli has admitted to being hard on himself amid his recent dip in form during his rookie F1 season.

The 18-year-old Italian driver began his F1 career with an impressive fourth-place finish in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, went on to secure his first pole position in the Miami sprint, and claim his first podium with third place in Canada.

But the high of Canada punctuated what has been tough European run of races starting at his home race at Imola. Antonelli scored his first point during the European leg of the 2025 season at the Hungarian Grand Prix, finishing 10th.

Speaking exclusively to Crash.net and RACER, Antonelli opened up about Mercedes’ “extremely important” support during what has been a tough spell for the teenager alongside George Russell. 

“I think I've got really good people around me that just want the best for me,” Antonelli explained. “They've been trying to protect me and I never felt any pressure from the team.

“I think it was more the pressure I was putting on myself than from the team. Obviously in some occasions they've been like pushing, but it's good. But mostly they've been always, let's say nice, because they've always been giving me the space and they always understood my situation.

“I'm racing in a top team and especially when you see good results, the team then start to expect, as is normal, more of these results. I have to be honest, I never felt any pressure from the team. They're doing the best to put me in the best position.

“I think it's more about me that I inject pain to myself, just putting too much pressure. But I am very aware that, also with all the rumours and things, I'm able to kind of put this noise away because the team has always been supportive and always have been clear and open to me on what they want and everything.

“So that really helps as well with this kind of situation.”

Such a level of support from a top team in the cut-throat, results-driven world of F1 can be rare, and Antonelli knows he is in a fortunate position.

“I feel I'm in a very lucky position because I'm able to, despite being in a top team, have my learning without having too much pressure, or without feeling the need to be at the absolute best and be winning all the time,” he added.

“Of course, the mindset and what I want and what the team wants is to win every time. Every time we go on track, the goal is to win. And I'm the first one to be unhappy with myself when I know I'm underperforming.

“But at the same time, when I make mistakes, the team is always very supportive. And this also allows you to overcome the mistake and to be better the next time.”

Toto Wolff downplays Antonelli’s slump

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has consistently defended Antonelli, having selected him as seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton’s replacement.

"Kimi obviously started very strongly with a race that was fantastic under wet conditions and some spectacular overtakes on the Sunday," Wolff said in a ‘mid-season review’ video posted by Mercedes.

"All of us have never doubted his performances. We knew there would be ups and downs - that’s part of the development curve.

"In Miami in the sprint qualifying, he had his first pole, and that was completely on merit. The next highlights followed, with a podium in Montreal.

"We mustn't forget he's 18 years old and he's going to learn a lot. He's going to make mistakes – and on other days he's going to be brilliant. Long-term, that’s what just is completely normal."