Mercedes chief admits early F1 mistake may have damaged Antonelli potential

Mercedes technical director James Allison insists Kimi Antonelli's disastrous debut with the team may have hampered his performances in F1 this season.

The Italian made his bow for the Silver Arrows during FP1 in Monza last year on the same weekend he was confirmed as Lewis Hamilton's replacement for 2025.

But he endured a nightmare in front of his home fans, after seeing his morning cut short following a crash into the barriers.

The rookie has previously admitted that he took some time to get over his first experience behind the wheel of an F1 car, and Allison agrees that the incident had a long-lasting effect.

Addressing media ahead of the summer break, Allison said: "We talk about this a bit internally, and it may just be more gossip than reality, but the trip into the barrier at Monza, I think that may have just left him approaching the weekends with a degree of caution as a result.

“We’ve been encouraging him to sort of trust [his] talent: ‘You can lean into that more than you think you can’.

"As he gets the confidence to do that, he’s finding his feet more quickly during the weekend.”

Antonelli finding his feet in F1

It's been an up-and-down campaign for the 18-year-old alongside team-mate George Russell.

He made an instant impact at the opening race in Melbourne, storming through the field to secure an unlikely P4 having started the day in P16.

A series of solid is unspectacular results followed, before a dramatic drop-off in form has seen the 18-year-old fail to score a single point in six of his last eight outings.

He currently occupies seventh spot in the drivers' championship - one place behind his predecessor Hamilton - going into the final 10 races of the year.

With his contract up at the end of this season, there have been questions raised over his long-term future at Mercedes, but team boss Toto Wolff insists the talented youngster is very much part of their plans going forward.

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