11/09/2025 12:55
Kimi Antonelli has expressed understandable relief that the
European nightmare he has suffered with Mercedes this season is
finally over. Antonelli made a strong start to his rookie campaign
this year with the team as the replacement for seven-time F1
champion Lewis Hamilton, scoring solid points in five of the first
six grands prix. But his season crumbled as soon as the F1 campaign
returned to its traditional heartland, where Antonelli's previous
experience from the junior formulas should have stood him in good
stead. Over the nine races, the 19-year-old amassed a paltry three
points, with his best finish his most recent on Sunday in the
Italian Grand Prix in Monza, where he was ninth. Bizarrely, the
only bright spot during that run was remarkably on another flyaway
with his season's best performance in Canada where he was third.
Speaking to the media, and asked by RacingNews365 whether there was
any sense of relief the European races were over, and with the
return to the flyaways he could finish the season like he started
it, Antonelli replied: "I really hope for that. "Definitely, the
European season has been very difficult, not ideal. Hopefully, we
can now have a good trend, like at the start of the season. I'm
really looking forward to that. "I'm honestly really happy that
this European season is finished." Antonelli needing to find rhythm
Even at Monza, where he qualified a respectable seventh before
starting sixth due to a penalty for Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton,
trouble unfolded at the very beginning. Antonelli confirmed he
sustained wheel spin off the line, resulting in him being on the
back foot into the first chicane from which he emerged in 10th.
Reflecting on his overall performance across the weekend and where
he needs to improve in the flyaways, which start with next
weekend's Azerbaijan GP. "I'm happier about the quali pace, which
was strong. I was much closer to George as well," said Antonelli.
"It's just a shame with the start that I made a mistake and lost a
lot of places. I just need to work on that and try to do better in
Baku. "But I felt much more at ease with everything and managing
everything. It was still not an easy race, but now this European
part of the season is finished, we go again out of Europe, so
hopefully we can get a nice rhythm again and get some good points
overall."
