Kimi Antonelli emotional with no end in sight to European nightmare

An emotional Kimi Antonelli has declared himself bereft of confidence following his latest nightmare that appeared to leave him emotional following qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.

After finishing the slowest in sprint qualifying on Friday evening, during which he spun off and into the gravel at Stavelot in his Mercedes, the 18-year-old's misery continued in grand prix qualifying when he could only finish 18th.

After a solid start to his rookie season, scoring points in five of the first six 'flyaway' grands prix, since F1 pitched up in Europe, Antonelli has suffered four retirements in five races, finishing 18th in the other.

Remarkably, in between such an unhappy run was his sparkling third place in the Canadian Grand Prix.

After qualifying, Antonelli took his time before speaking to the media. Ordinarily, the drivers knocked out at the end of each segment make their way very soon after to the television and the written pens to conduct interviews.

Antonelli, however, was the last of all the drivers to take to the pen. His eyes were red, and he was holding a tissue in one hand.

Explaining this latest unfortunate episode, he gave an honest appraisal. "Since the European season, I've been struggling to find confidence with the car, and I feel like I've made a backwards step," he said.

"It's a difficult moment for me, because I feel like I have no confidence in pushing. Yesterday [in sprint qualifying], I tried to push a bit too much, and then I spun, and it hurt the confidence even more. It's a difficult period.

"We know the limitation we have [with the car] is quite a lot, but with the way I'm driving, I'm just increasing the problem, and that's giving me even less confidence with the car."

Antonelli suggests pit lane start

Antonelli claimed his car to be "in a better place" for grand prix qualifying, only to add: "It's just on my side, I still struggled to get up to speed quickly because the confidence is missing.

"There's a lot of work to do on my side, and I will try to find the light at the end of the tunnel as soon as possible."

As to what he needs from the car, he said: "Definitely, a bit more stability, because with the way I drive, I'm a bit more aggressive with the inputs, also, compared to George [Russell], I'm a bit more aggressive overall.

"I tend to try and carry a lot of speed into the corner. With the limitations I have, I'm just increasing the problem.

"So on my side, I'm trying to change a little the way I'm driving to also have balance. Of course, it's impossible to have the perfect balance, so I'm just trying to work on that, but it's not easy."

As to his ways of working with the team to ensure he is not overthinking matters, again, he pulled no punches on himself.

"The team has been trying to help me as much as possible," he said. "But I'm probably trying to change the way I'm driving too much, and it feels like I'm not driving naturally. It's very forced, the way I'm driving, and it's just difficult."

Antonelli has stated Mercedes will change his car overnight, and he will start from the pit lane. He said: "Hopefully that will give us an advantage, and hopefully, the confidence will be back."