Kimi Antonelli: Lewis Hamilton defends his Mercedes replacement as Nico Rosberg urges team to give Italian driver new contract | F1 News

Lewis Hamilton has defended Kimi Antonelli, insisting his replacement at Mercedes has “been doing fantastically” despite a recent drop-off in form.

The Italian teenager, who turns 19 in August, made a strong start to his Formula 1 career as he finished in the top six in five of his first six grands prix, but has scored points in just one of the seven races since.

Antonelli showed a flash of the touted brilliance that saw Mercedes fast-track him into one of the sport’s most desirable seats by claiming his maiden podium finish in Canada in June, but a series of errors since then have resulted in a loss of confidence that appeared to be spiralling at the Belgian Grand Prix over the weekend.

After Antonelli had appeared tearful on Saturday evening having been knocked out in Q1 at Spa, Hamilton visited the youngster on Sunday morning and was also seen talking to him during the drivers’ parade and after the race, in which he finished 16th.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 about his visit to Antonelli, Hamilton said: “I can’t imagine what it’s like at 18 to do what he’s doing. I think he’s been doing fantastically.

“To be thrown in at the deep end at 18. He didn’t even have his driving licence when he first started racing in F1.”

“It’s a lot on someone’s shoulders. I think he’s doing a great job.”

Antonelli was drafted in as George Russell’s team-mate after Hamilton made a blockbuster switch to Ferrari following 12 seasons with Mercedes.

The 18-year-old inherited Hamilton’s long-time race engineer Peter (Bono) Bonnington, who was a key figure in the Brit’s historically successful period with the Silver Arrows.

Hamilton added: “He (Antonelli) has got a great group of people around him.

“You just have to take it in your stride, which I think he is, and he’s got Bono beside him, so he couldn’t have anyone better.”

Mercedes put Antonelli struggles down to ‘difficult car’

Antonelli’s recent struggles have coincided with a relative drop-off in performance for the team as a whole, with Russell having failed to finish inside the top four at the three races since his victory in Canada.

The upgrades that Mercedes have added to their car over the early stages of the summer appear to have failed to produce the desired effect, which head of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin explained is bound to trouble Antonelli more than Russell.

Speaking after Sunday’s race in Belgium, Shovlin said: “I think what you’ve seen in the recent qualifyings is that George is leaning on his many years of experience in an F1 car to try to make the most of a difficult car when it comes to qualy.

“Kimi hasn’t got that to drop back on, and that’s probably why you’ve seen a bit of a shift in his results recently.

“But it goes back to the fact that we’ve got to solve that problem because there’s still a long way to go this year. It is quite likely something that we’ve changed on the car, and we just need to get back to a baseline where it’s working more normally.”

Antonelli’s slump in form has come as a surprise to many due to the impressive form in which he began his debut campaign, with a fourth place in Australia followed up by sixth-placed finishes in four of the next five races.

There was also a maiden pole position as he topped Sprint Qualifying in Miami to heighten excitement over the karting sensation’s potential.

Explaining why his performances have dropped off, Shovlin added: “Kimi’s on a steep learning curve and he’s going to be getting better as a driver.

“The fact that his early performances were better than they are now is almost certainly that the car is not as competitive, and you can see that mirrored in George’s results.

“We’ve seen it lots of times before as well, when a young driver comes in and they’re in a very good car, they can often really impress. When a young driver comes in and they’re in a difficult car, it’s very hard to get it together week in, week out.

“We’ve seen enough from Kimi to know that there’s a great deal of talent there, but what will help George will also help Kimi, and it will probably help Kimi more.”

Rosberg: Mercedes should confirm Antonelli’s 2026 contract now

Former world champion Nico Rosberg believes uncertainty over Antonelli’s future with the team could be contributing to his struggles and that Mercedes should immediately confirm his seat for 2026.

The Mercedes futures of both Antonelli and Russell have appeared uncertain amid the team’s continued attempts to sign Max Verstappen, although most now believe the reigning world champion will stay with Red Bull for at least the 2026 season.

Sky Sports F1 pundit Rosberg, who won the world championship for Mercedes in 2016, told The F1 Show: “The team needs to support him as much as possible.

“Why not even just already confirm his contract also for next year? Worst case [scenario] is it goes really wrong, you can always still get out of it. Just giving him confidence and time to make progress.

“Kimi is definitely a generational talent. He showed it all the way through in karting, with the talent at the level of Verstappen and Hamilton. It’s the mental state that matters also.

“When you start having a little bit of a spiral, with a few too many mistakes, a little bit of a lack of pace here and there, that starts to spiral a bit negatively. He’s just in that at the moment, and it’s a really difficult situation and tough to watch.”

F1 immediately heads to the Hungarian Grand Prix for the final race before the sport’s summer break, watch live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime