Jacques Villeneuve tells Mercedes how to fix Kimi Antonelli’s woes

Jacques Villeneuve has given advice to Mercedes to help Kimi Antonelli overcome his poor form.

The Mercedes driver was lambasted by 1997 F1 champion Villeneuve after the Dutch Grand Prix.

Antonelli’s clash with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was likened to a Formula 4 or a Formula 3 manoeuvre. Villeneuve questioned if F1 was too much for Antonelli and refused to accept his tender age as a reason.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli accepted responsibility for the incident which scuppered Leclerc’s race too.

Although Jeremy Clarkson leapt to Antonelli’s defence, Villeneuve was unforgiving.

He was asked what Mercedes must do to get Antonelli up to speed.

“You don’t get the driver up to speed,” he replies on Sky Sports.

“The driver has to get himself up to speed.

“You give him the tools, you maybe clean out his surroundings so he can be himself. That’s the first step.”

Antonelli, who is still just 19, is on a wretched run of form.

He did deliver a welcome reminder of his talent with a podium in Canada, but otherwise his recent races have been forgettable.

He has only twice scored points in the past nine grands prix.

But Toto Wolff ended any doubt about Mercedes’ F1 2026 driver line-up by confirming Antonelli and George Russell’s inclusions.

Jacques Villeneuve on Charles Leclerc v George Russell

Villeneuve also had his say on the controversial battle between Charles Leclerc and George Russell at Zandvoort.

The stewards investigated but opted not to punish Leclerc’s aggressive driving.

“When you do an overtake from the outside, you need to get yourself next to the car in front. And he’s not,” Villeneuve said about Leclerc.

“He is only half-way there. George is looking to the right. So when he changes direction he doesn’t even know that Charles is there.

“Charles should have known that.

“Racing incident, let’s call it. Nothing too bad happened.

“It wasn’t a completed move by Charles.”

Leclerc’s race was prematurely ended shortly after, in the incident with Antonelli.