Andrea Kimi Antonelli revealed the “darkest moment” of his maiden Formula 1 season, which came with many ups and downs for the Mercedes driver.
The Italian was thrust into the spotlight by being the direct replacement for Lewis Hamilton at the Brackley-based squad, despite his tender age.
Antonelli began the season strongly with points on his debut, as well as becoming the youngest-ever driver in F1 history to lead a Grand Prix.
His first podium came in Canada, which punctuated a European leg of the campaign which undoubtedly saw Antonelli’s worst period.
With only three points scored across the whole of the European races, Antonelli struggled as the W16 went through patches of inconsistency in its performance.
But as the team ditched mid-season upgrades, the car reverted to competitiveness, and with that, Antonelli was finally able to show his pace again.
In Brazil, Antonelli outperformed team-mate George Russell all weekend, and finished second in both Sprint and GP qualifying, as well as in the races themselves.
Ahead of the penultimate round in Qatar, Antonelli reflected on the good and bad moments of his first year in F1, and noted that the peak of the European leg saw his lowest ebb.
“I think since we went on the new suspension [mid-season upgrades], I struggled quite a lot, especially to adapt,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“George, on the other hand, despite we lost performance with the new suspension, George was able to adapt. And I struggled quite a lot more.
“And I just entered this negative spiral where it felt like it just kept getting worse and worse. Frustration was just getting over. And I think my darkest moment was probably Spa [in which he spun out in qualifying and finished the race 16th], and definitely I’ve been doubting myself a lot because obviously seeing the results not coming, then you just start to ask yourself if you’re good enough. And so, it wasn’t easy.”
Antonelli recogises ‘Monza reset’ as where F1 season turned around again
Antonelli returned from the summer break with a clumsy collision with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at Zandvoort, before spinning during a practice session at Monza.
But having managed to turn things around to qualify seventh and finish 10th, Antonelli recognised that race was the milestone that saw him regain a steely mentality.
“But then, that’s why also I did a big meeting with the team after Monza,” he continued. “And I did a big reset mentally and just tried to refocus on the important stuff on the process.
“And that really helped, and that was a big learning as well.”
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