Helmut Marko critical of Mercedes for creating needless Kimi Antonelli “hype”

Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko believes Mercedes created unnecessary “hype” around Kimi Antonelli ahead of his debut F1 season.

Antonelli has been fast-tracked into F1 following Lewis Hamilton’s shock decision to leave the team at the end of last year.

The Italian made his F1 debut at the age of 18, and had he won one of the opening three races, he would have broken Max Verstappen’s record for being the youngest winner.

Antonelli has endured an underwhelming first season with Mercedes.

While Antonelli picked up his first podium at the Canadian Grand Prix, he scored points in just two of the last eight races.

Unlike his fellow rookies, Antonelli has the daunting task of racing alongside George Russell, who has arguably been the best-performing driver on the 2025 grid.

Still, more was expected from Antonelli, particularly as he’s widely viewed as a ‘generational talent’.

In an interview with F1 Insider, Marko explained that Antonelli is being disadvantaged by Mercedes’s lack of a junior team.

“The difference, our juniors first drive for the Racing Bulls and aren’t immediately exposed to the pressure of F1,” Marko explained.

“We also don’t create hype around a young driver before they’re in an F1 car.”

Antonelli needs “time to recover”

Kimi Antonelli’s dip in form has coincided with Mercedes’ downturn in results.

An upgrade introduced earlier in the season put them on the wrong development path, making the W16 tricky to drive.

At the last round in Hungary, Mercedes reverted to an older specification part, giving both drivers more feel when driving.

Marko believes it’s a matter of time before Antonelli turns things around, even if he doesn’t have the benefit of driving for a junior team to rediscover his form, like Liam Lawson has at Racing Bulls.

“I mean, they [Mercedes] don’t have a junior team,” he said. “Sure, I don’t want to comment on how things work with other teams.

“Antonelli is certainly a very fast driver, but also very young, and strangely enough, we spoke briefly at the hotel in Spa, and he said that he doesn’t have confidence in the car and as soon as he pushes, he loses control.

“So, it’s more a mental thing, and apparently the car is also very critical in the working window, similar to ours, and when it works, then it’s much more toxic.

“Kimi just needs to be given time to recover, just as [Liam] Lawson rediscovered his form with Racing Bulls. But thankfully, Mercedes doesn’t have the luxury of a second team.”