Peter Bonnington privately shared biggest difference between working with Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli

Kimi Antonelli has grown in stature once again at the Bahrain Grand Prix. He qualified a career-best fourth on the grid in his Mercedes.

The Italian, who’s the third-youngest driver in F1 history, has improved from one weekend to the next. After a shock Q1 exit on debut in Australia, he’s gone from eighth to sixth to fourth.

Antonelli has also shone in the races, with his 30-point haul good enough for fifth in the championship. He’s the first rookie to score in his first three Grands Prix since Lewis Hamilton in 2007.

The 18-year-old faced the most unenivable of tasks in succeeding Hamilton at Mercedes. But thus far, he’s shown little sign that he’s feeling pressure.

For race engineer Peter Bonnington, the task this year is entirely different. Bonnington helped Hamilton win six world titles in 12 seasons, forming the most successful partnership in the sport’s history.

Peter Bonnington and Martin Brundle purr over Lewis Hamilton replacement Kimi Antonelli

Speaking live on Sky Sports before Bahrain GP qualifying, Martin Brundle issued a glowing appraisal of Antonelli’s start in F1. He was immediately impressed by the composure he showed in a treacherous Melbourne to climb from 16th to fourth.

That speaks to the resilience of a driver who has been able to recover from shaky starts to race weekends. Antonelli received advice from Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes’ reserve driver, before transforming his fortunes in Japan.

“Kimi’s got a wonderful mentality,” Brundle said. “To finish the race in Australia as he did, in one of the most challenging Grands Prix I’ve seen in a very long time, and to keep his head as a rookie in that race.

“We’ve seen him get lost a little bit in some weekends, but he’s working very close with Bono and the team and he brings it back around again. That’s a really telling sign that he doesn’t just plummet. How fascinating that they’re nurturing him at that team.”

Brundle’s colleague Simon Lazenby then lifted the lid on a conversation with Bonnington in Japan. Hamilton was already a world champion when he arrived at Mercedes, but Antonelli is a driver he can ‘mould’.

“When I talk to Pete Bonnington in the paddock in Suzuka, he was saying what a difference it is to go from working someone who’s the greatest of all time. We’ve got someone that we can mould, but yet Kimi’s feedback already is exceptional. That’s the sign of a really talented driver.”

Valtteri Bottas says Kimi Antonelli has avoided the mistake many F1 rookies make

David Croft interviewed Antonelli and Bottas on the same channel and asked the Finnish veteran for his impressions on the new arrival.

Bottas says Antonelli is showing just the right amount of aggression. And like Bonnington, he also praised his technical feedback.

“Very impressed,” the 10-time race-winner said. “Very few mistakes, which is not easy to avoid as a rookie. Balancing how much you want to push versus giving yourself a bit of leash, time for yourself. So far, Kimi has had the perfect balance, and also his feedback is getting better and better, which is natural.”

Despite his impressive results, Karun Chandhok snubbed Antonelli as he named Isack Hadjar the outstanding rookie of 2025 so far. He’ll hope to change his mind before the end of the year.

There were some concerns after Antonelli wrote off two Mercedes cars in private testing. But thus far, he’s been a picture of calm and consistency behind the wheel.