29/07/2025 12:00
Martin Brundle has questioned why Mercedes did not afford Kimi
Antonelli time with a "lesser" team early in his F1 career, as it
did with George Russell. However, the former F1 driver-turned
commentator was quick to point out he is "effectively a protected
species at the team and won't be living in fear of his career like
a Red Bull youngster." The 18-year-old is mired in a difficult run
of form and is seemingly bereft of confidence. Following qualifying
for the Belgian Grand Prix, where he was knocked out in Q1 - as he
was in SQ1 the day prior - he took longer than usual to arrive for
his media duties and appeared tearful and emotional when he did. He
finished the race at Spa-Francorchamps down in P16, meaning he has
scored points in just one of the past seven grands prix after
starting the season with five top 10s in the opening six rounds, as
well as points in both sprints. Despite his one points finish over
that stretch being a maiden podium, at the Canadian Grand Prix,
Antonelli has suffered his share of misfortune in that span. Power
unit-related retirements at Imola and in Spain were joined by
collisions in Austria and at Silverstone, but only the first-lap
crash with Max Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring can be classified as
the Mercedes driver's fault. However, his performance has dipped as
well. The cause of the slump in form is widely seen as twofold, as
not only has the W16 become more difficult to drive in recent
rounds, but speculation regarding Verstappen has engulfed the
Brackley-based squad, leaving the Italian under significant
pressure. "Kimi Antonelli is having a torrid time... He's only
scored points once in the last seven GPs (a podium in Canada), and
it's not too difficult to observe that he's really feeling that
pressure on his very young shoulders," Brundle wrote in his column
for Sky Sports F1 . Antonelli not 'living in fear of his career
like a Red Bull youngster' When the rumours linking Verstappen to
Mercedes, from as early as 2026, first re-emerged - due to
team-mate Russell - it looked as though the Briton was the driver
at risk of being replaced. Although as they developed, the
suggestion that Antonelli could be shuffled out to a Mercedes
customer further down the grid gained traction. Williams and
Alpine, the former of which will take power units from the
eight-time constructors' champions from next season, could have
been potential homes for the teenager, and whilst Verstappen will
now remain at Red Bull in 2026, the issue is not completely abated.
Nonetheless, Brundle acknowledged the fortuitous position Antonelli
finds himself in, as the Italian himself has alluded to earlier in
the year, of not living in "fear" like other young drivers in F1.
"He's lucky because he's effectively a protected species at the
team and won't be living in fear of his career like a Red Bull
youngster, but the summer break can't come early enough for him I
suspect," Brundle added. The 66-year-old did, however, question why
Toto Wolff did not seek to place Antonelli in a seat further down
the pecking order. This would have given him time to hone his craft
before moving up to a Mercedes seat, as Russell did with Williams
between 2019 and 2021. "I still wonder why they didn't give Kimi a
couple of years to learn his trade in a lesser spotlight as they
did with George Russell," he wrote. "He's a generational talent, as
my Sky colleague Nico Rosberg would say, but they can't let his
head spiral."
