Mercedes chief admits Kimi Antonelli has lost enthusiasm for one reason after recent F1 triple header

Kimi Antonelli has experienced the good, the bad and the ugly in his first nine races in Formula 1 with Mercedes.

Antonelli produced a stunning F1 debut in Melbourne, where he produced a stunning drive from P16 to finish fourth in the tricky weather conditions. The Italian impressed in the next two races, grabbing the fastest lap at Suzuka, before failing to score points in Bahrain.

The 18-year-old secured his first pole position for the Sprint race in Miami, but he failed to capitalise as he finished 7th, before coming home P6 in the Grand Prix on Sunday. Antonelli went into the European triple header with good momentum behind him, but it would be a huge disaster for Mercedes.

A mechanical failure forced the Italian to retire from his first home Grand Prix at Imola. Jacques Villeneuve heard Mercedes ‘were not super happy’ with Antonelli as he brought his school friends to the track, giving him a huge distraction over the weekend.

Monaco was a nightmare as Mercedes struggled with overheating tyres and other teams’ strategies of holding up the field. George Russell finished 11th, while Antonelli limped home in P18.

The Spanish Grand Prix saw the 18-year-old’s second mechanical issue in three races, as a power unit issue forced him into his second retirement of the season in the closing stages.

James Allison admits the recent F1 triple header has ‘taken a few chunks’ out of Kimi Antonelli

Antonelli is now at risk of a grid penalty as Mercedes fear his engine in Barcelona is not recoverable. It has been a dramatic decline in form in recent races, with the Italian failing to score any points in the last three races.

Mercedes chief James Allison has admitted that the recent triple header has ‘taken a few chunks’ out of Antonelli. However, as he explains via the official Mercedes YouTube channel, he stressed that he is having ‘very positive’ discussions behind the scenes to move forward.

“Well, Kimi’s young and full of all the optimism of youth, but I absolutely know that our failures in this period have taken a few chunks out of Kimi along the way,” he said.

“Two DNFs, one caused by a chassis problem, one caused by a PU problem in just three races. That’s a pretty tough pill to swallow.

“Leaving that aside and Kimi looking in it himself, he will know that he’s got more to find.

“But in amongst that, there’s been a lot of very positive work with him and brilliant experience for him running on a very dynamic track like it was in Barcelona, with the track temperatures pushing up towards 50 degrees and managing soft tyres in those conditions.

“That is just putting experience into him at a very fast rate and he was handling it pretty well.”

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Is Kimi Antonelli’s future with Mercedes in danger in 2026?

Mercedes have told Antonelli to work on tyre management after his start to the season. While cracks are beginning to show, the Italian has huge potential and a great support network around him in Brackley that will give him the tools to succeed.

But the 18-year-old will need to get back to form as soon as possible. Antonelli is out of contract in 2025, as well as teammate Russell, with Mercedes yet to decide their driver line-up for 2026.

Rumours have been swirling around about what the Silver Arrows plan to do, with Max Verstappen potentially an option for next year. Guenther Steiner ‘could easily’ see Verstappen replace Antonelli at Mercedes in 2026.

Toto Wolff might not want to pass on the opportunity of signing the Dutchman a second time, but he is a keen admirer of his current drivers. Valtteri Bottas may have let slip Mercedes’ plans as he expects Russell and Antonelli to be retained.