Wolff says Antonelli's F1 woes may have been a Mercedes 'calibration' slip up

15:29, 05 Sep

byNorberto Mujica

Andrea Kimi Antonelli simply cannot get out of the slump he's currently in. Mercedes team principal and CEO Toto Wolff has opened up about the situation with the young Italian driver.

Since his first-ever F1 podium, Antonelli has endured a rather harsh slump in F1, with a growing number of crashes, the gap to teammate George Russell enlargening, and the pressure ramping up.

During the Dutch Grand Prix, the Mercedes rookie beached his W16 in FP1 and then crashed Charles Leclerc out of the race which earned him one of the two penalties he incurred in throughout the race, which resuted in him placing P16 at the flag.

Wolff: 'We probably didn't calibrate him the right way'

Wolff, speaking to Sky Sports, reaffirmed that Mercedes in no way doubt Antonelli's potential, acknowledging the FP1 outing in Monza last year as he also acknowledged that the hype may have hindered the Italian's performance.

"What we have told him is there's no doubting Kimi," Wolff began.

"He came into the sport with great fanfare. The quickest ever in karting, a great junior series record and he comes in here, blasts a lap out in the first two sectors and says 'that's mini Jesus' then he put it in the wall which can happen."

"We probably didn't calibrate him the right way. The season started very strong, then we had a car that was unpredictable and didn't give him any confidence."

Antonelli's 'started calmer and at the end it was solid'

Wolff then looked at the differences between Antonelli's first outing at Zandvoort and his recent FP1 performance in Monza.

"A mistake in FP1 in Zandvoort did not set him on the right trajectory for qualifying.

"Today, he's started calmer and at the end it was solid.

"The most important [thing] is to let him grow, let him do the mistakes and he's 19. He's just a young kid."

More bad times than good times, 'but we are committed'

Woff explained to Sky Sports that the German team needed Antonelli, following Lewis Hamilton's long-announced departure.

"I think we went into putting Kimi in an F1 car with great enthusiasm and the team needed that, with Lewis going.

"For us, it was the best alternative. We walked into it with open eyes and said 'there are races we will tear our hair out and others that will be brilliant'. Maybe there are more hair tear out situations but we are committed."