Antonelli in confidence crisis after Q1 exit, set for F1 Belgian GP pitlane start

Andrea Kimi Antonelli is not having a good time in Formula 1.

Mercedes’ 18-year-old wonderkid had a promising start to his maiden season as he took sprint pole in Miami and scored consistent top-six finishes over the first six grands prix.

Yet in the latest six rounds, Antonelli scored points just once – his podium in Montreal – and was outqualified by team-mate George Russell every single time.

This was the case again at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, where Antonelli spun out of contention in the first part of sprint qualifying, ending up 20th in what was Mercedes’ joint-worst qualifying result in F1.

The Italian managed to keep his Silver Arrow on the track in Saturday’s qualifying session, but he failed to perform better than 18th, 0.355 seconds slower than Russell and 0.231s away from Gabriel Bortoleto’s cutoff time in 15th – and that was despite the car being “in a better place compared to yesterday” after a set-up change.

“Since the European season I’ve been struggling to find confidence with the car and I feel like I’ve done a backward step,” a visibly distraught Antonelli told media some 90 minutes after his Q1 exit.

“It’s a difficult moment for me because I feel like I have no confidence on pushing. Yesterday I tried to push a bit too much and then I spun, and then it kind of hurts the confidence even more.

“With the way I’m driving, I’m just increasing the problem. And that gives me even less confidence with the car.”

The best way to drive an F1 car is to drive it without overthinking every steering move, and this is what Antonelli has failed to do lately.

“On my side I’m probably trying to change the way I’m driving too much,” he admitted. “And it feels like I’m not driving naturally. It’s very forced, the way I’m driving, and it’s just difficult.”

Asked what he needed from the car to recover his confidence, Antonelli singled out “stability”.

“With the way I drive, I’m a bit more aggressive with the inputs compared to George,” he explained. “I’m a bit more aggressive overall. I tend to try and carry a lot of speed into the corner. And with the limitation I have I’m just increasing the problem.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

“So on my side I’m trying to change a little bit the way I’m driving to also have the balance. Because, of course, it’s impossible to have the perfect balance. I’m just trying to work on that side, but it’s not easy.”

Antonelli will start from the pitlane in the grand prix, having little to lose in light of his initial 18th position on the grid. This will also give Mercedes the opportunity to adapt his set-up to the weather – with showers currently forecast in the afternoon.

The youngster candidly hopes the upcoming tweaks will give him his confidence back, but he’s aware he needs a real breakthrough to emerge from the darkness he’s currently in: “I’ll try to find the light out of the tunnel as soon as possible.”