Mercedes has revealed that Kimi Antoneri is pushing her to “trust his talents” as she continues to adapt to her life in Formula 1.
The Italian had to deal with the weight of expectations after struggling to Formula 1 at the age of 18 after a promising record in junior races.
Antonelli himself spoke about being “too conservative” this season after being “overcorrected” after an FP1 crash at the Italian Grand Prix last year.
Mercedes recognizes Antonelli’s “cautious” approach, but has attempted to tackle the issue by advising him to believe in his abilities.
“We’ll talk a bit about this internally. It might be more gossip than reality, but I think a trip to Monza’s barrier could have only made him cautiously approach the weekend as a result.”
“We’ve encouraged him to trust him with a talented (his) talent: “You can lean towards it more than you think.”
Despite his lack of aggression, Antonelli sat seventh in the championship during the summer break, earning his best third place at the Canadian Grand Prix.
His teammate George Russell was one of the most powerful performers of the season, winning the same Montreal race, finishing fourth in the championship just behind McLaren’s duo Oscar Piastri and Randnoris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Allison praised Russell, now a four-time Grand Prix winner, for setting Antonelli’s “very high bar” in Mercedes’ garage.
“George barely made a mistake with his foot,” Allison said. “He’s making money in the qualifying rounds. We gave him a car he could work with and he did everything we could have hoped for.
“It’s obviously about filming a very high standard for you. I’m happy with the fact that, speaking this year, you’ve been able to get closer to George as the weekend went by.
“But George sets up a very high bar. Getting someone as fast as you would shoot is a great apprentice.”