Kimi Antonelli has concluded a strong rookie season in F1 and is ready to tackle new challenges next year. The 19-year-old finished 7th in the Drivers’ Standings with 150 points. His maiden campaign showed strong promise, but Antonelli revealed it was not without difficulties.
Pressure led to growth
Italian driver Antonelli opened up about the highs and lows of his season ahead of the F1 Abu Dhabi GP. When asked whether his first season had delivered the learning and experience he needed to be a better driver next year, Kimi Antonelli said:
“For sure, this year has been massive. It’s been a massive learning curve for me. Definitely going into Mercedes first year, I think it was a massive opportunity. I was more under spotlight, more under pressure, but I think that really helped me to grow even faster. This season, I’ve had my ups and downs.
“I had a very long, difficult period, but being able to overcome it made me stronger and was kind of a small victory for me. During that period of time in Europe, I even started to doubt myself and I was also afraid that I wouldn’t have been able to get out of it. But then, since Baku, we’ve been in a good momentum and it’s been good fun recently. So definitely, I’m happy. I’m quite happy with the season but mostly, I’m happy with how much I grew and how much I matured as a person. Definitely next year, I’m going to be much more prepared and much more in control of the situation.”
The Italian looked back on his mid-season rough patch, which included retirements, low race positions, and rookie mistakes. He suffered a heartbreaking retirement during his home race at the Imola GP, followed by two further difficult race weekends, before bouncing back in a flash of brilliance in Canada, where he took his maiden podium. Then came the mid-season drought, during which Antonelli suffered outside the points for the next five race weekends. Eventually, the young driver came back stronger and secured a P4 in Baku.
Kimi Antonelli: “I felt like I wasn’t going anywhere”
Antonelli entered F1 under intense pressure. Before he took part in his first race, expectations were already being set for the then 18-year-old driver. Even so, the Italian managed to have a mostly successful first part of the season, showing what he was capable of. Then, as the season progressed, things began to go downhill for him, and doubts started to creep in.
When asked whether the comments by Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff, in which he acknowledged a dip in his performance, contributed to the mid-season being the most challenging part of his campaign, Antonelli responded:
“Yeah for sure, that was in Monza, but definitely during the European season because I had a very strong start up until Canada, I had a really strong first part of the season. Obviously, expectations got higher and higher. And then the European season came and just it felt like everything was falling apart and just felt like everything was not working. And Mercedes also were already fighting back then with the P2 and we were losing points. Then the team started to kind of put a bit of pressure, but of course that added up, but it’s normal, it’s how it is.
“What really made the difference was after Monza, the meeting I had with Bono, with Toto. It really helped me to make a reset and really try to get back in the form of the first part of the season because I was also not happy with how things were going. I was getting more and more frustrated because I was thinking too much about the final result. Also, I was trying to fulfil the team’s expectation, but it just was snowball effect. I felt like I wasn’t going anywhere. But after Monza, then I was able to reset.”
The young driver was determined to bounce back from his struggles and secured two more podiums in his maiden campaign. With his seat at Mercedes secured for next year, it will be interesting to see how Antonelli applies the lessons from his rookie year to his second F1 season.
