Max Verstappen has heaped praise on rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, despite the topsy-turvy start to his Formula 1 career with Mercedes.
The Italian’s first full season in the sport has been a mixed bag in terms of both his personal performance and the inherent instability of the W16.
While Antonelli is the highest-placed rookie in the Drivers’ Championship, he trails a mammoth 128 points behind team-mate George Russell.
The 19-year-old has indeed shown sparks of brilliance – including a career-first F1 podium at the Canadian Grand Prix.
That said, he has been prone to making costly errors that have cost him and the German marque crucial points in the Constructors’ Championship.
But Verstappen, who himself is no stranger to Antonelli’s proclivity for mistakes having DNFed on the first lap of the Austrian Grand Prix owing to Antonelli’s lock-up, is confident that the Mercedes driver is capable of bouncing back despite this period of struggle.
“Making mistakes in your first season in F1 is part of the equation,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“What I like most about him is that he doesn’t take it easy. He always gives it his all, and I see myself in him.
“Could he do better? Of course. But I know how talented he is… it shows. He just needs a little patience, like everyone else.
“It’s not easy starting with a top team, which, moreover, isn’t consistently fighting for wins. He’ll be fine, he just needs a little time.”
Russell reveals Mercedes stance on Antonelli
Coming into the season, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was categorical about his expectations from Antonelli.
Having said that, even the Austrian was left unimpressed with how error-ridden his race was at Zandvoort.
Russell, too, sympathises with the 19-year-old’s plight and has urged him to look at his whole season and not just the mistakes to take perspective.
“As a young driver you’ve got to look at it objectively, which is in terms of his own personal performance,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“You can argue he’s probably actually performing better than he did at the start of the year when you look at the deficit in terms of lap time.
“It’s just the differences. In Canada, when we were on pole he was in fourth place over half a second behind and in Spa he was only three-tenths behind me.
“But that was the difference between out in Q1 or getting through to Q3.”
The Briton went on to reveal that the Brackley-based squad is fully behind Antonelli and that the team has been very open and clear with the 19-year-old about how they look to tackle this prolonged period of incapacity.
“The team have made it very clear he shouldn’t worry about those results, he’s still doing a very good job considering his experience,” he added.
“The car has brought us both backwards. So that’s, of course, very difficult to accept when you’re in that position.
“It’s never easy when the car is not performing as you expect.”
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