Can Mercedes Help Kimi Antonelli Out of a Rut?

I think it would be fair to say that Kimi Antonelli has not had an easy start to the season. It's been difficult for the 18-year-old rookie to find his feet in Formula One with a set of consistent results. Before entering the pinnacle of motorsport, Antonelli was hailed as the next Verstappen. Extremely fast on track, and even skipped some Formulas along the way. Mercedes had struck gold with him, and they didn't want him to slip through their fingers and have the same regrets they did with Verstappen So, when Lewis Hamilton left the team to go to Ferrari, Toto Wolff knew that the logical decision for him to make was to promote Antonelli into his F1 seat. The alternative was risking losing him to another team in the future, and Wolff could not let that happen.

There was a mixture of excitement and caution when Antonelli announced. Some looked forward to seeing this exciting young talent blow everyone away on track, and others were concerned that this was too early in his career. The media went into a frenzy over Antonelli, egged on by Wolff and Mercedes, who kept making comparisons to some greats of Formula One. Now in my late 20s, I know that kind of pressure would make me unravel, so I can't imagine what it must've been like for a boy who didn't even have his driving licence yet and was still sitting his school exams.

The talking would happen on track though, and with 13 races already ticked off, we have results to look back on to really see what Kimi Antonelli can do in an F1 car. It's been far from straightforward for him. Flashes of brilliance that have often been drowned out by poor results, and the media more than happy to point out that he hasn't lived up to expectations. Ones that Wolff seemed to bolster prior to the contract signing, before trying to tamper down expectations after the ink had dried. It was too late at that point, though. The media had run away with the headlines, and now, Formula One was expecting great things from him.

It's been a rollercoaster for Antonelli so far. Highlights from his season are his sprint pole from Miami and his maiden podium out in Canada. A series of early qualifying exits, DNFs and finishes outside of the points have overshadowed much of that, however. With an average finishing position of 9.15 and a qualifying position of 8.8 and 4 DNFs, people have already begun to say that Antonelli has disappointed them.

I think that's far from the truth. Antonelli is going through his rookie season the way I would expect most drivers to in his position. With some mistakes along the way, new things to learn and some bad luck. But a maiden podium and sprint pole in the first half of the season show exactly why Mercedes had signed him. Antonelli has raw speed, something you can't teach . Understanding the limits of the car, developing an understanding of car set-up, giving valuable feedback to your engineers, those are things that can be taught. Things that I am sure Antonelli is learning along the way.

The bigger issue that Mercedes needs to address with their rookie driver is keeping Antonelli's confidence up. After having so much pressure on his shoulders, a slew of poor results would make it easy for him to start doubting his abilities and overthink his driving. A driver who loses confidence is a driver who stops trying to extract the maximum out of the car. That's going to be the last thing that Mercedes wants because you learn a lot more from pushing the limits than playing it safe. But will Mercedes and Wolff know how to build Antonelli's confidence at an integral point in his career? This isn't about his race or qualifying pace but his emotional resilience.

Mercedes hasn't had to deal with a rookie driver since they rejoined the sport in 2010. Before this year, they've always had one world champion in a seat, with their second driver coming with a mountain of experience. Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton already had silverware when they joined the team, whilst Rosberg, Bottas and Russell had spent a years at different teams, honing their race craft before joining the Silver Arrows. So, this is a learning curve for the team as well. For them to try to understand how to nurture Antonelli and make sure that he's equipt with the right tools and information to succeed in his career. Especially if Mercedes sees him as a long term prospect, which has looked to be the plan all along.

There's no denying that Antonelli has the talent to make into Formula One, but he now needs the guidance to put that talent to good use. At only 18-years-old, he could have a long future ahead of him in the sport, but Mercedes needs to help him tap into all that talent and give him the tools he needs to succeed. Whilst he may no longer be one of their development drivers, as a rookie, he still needs some help.