Kimi Antonelli reveals F1 future concern during 'negative spiral'

Kimi Antonelli has admitted he doubted his own F1 abilities when he endured a difficult run of form midway through the season.

Antonelli joined the F1 grid with Mercedes earlier this year, replacing seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.

While he started the year with a string of respectable performances, he soon suffered a blip in form and went on a difficult stretch during which he often failed to score points.

His season ended on a higher note as he returned to the points on a more consistent basis, as well as bagging a back-to-back podiums in Sao Paulo and Las Vegas

But when asked if he had ever doubted himself during the year, Antonelli told media including RacingNews365: “For sure, many times. Since we went on the new suspension, I struggled quite a lot, especially to adapt.

“George, on the other hand, despite that we lost performance with the new suspension, was able to adapt — and I struggled quite a lot more.

“And I just entered this negative spiral where it felt like it kept getting worse and worse, and frustration was just taking over.”

Antonelli labelled the final race weekend before the summer break at Spa-Francorchamps as his low point of the year.

The 19-year-old suffered a Q1 exit and was unable to make up ground to score points on Sunday. However, after calling a large meeting soon after to review his struggles, Antonelli highlighted it served as a major boost for his performance.

“I think my darkest moment was Spa, probably,” he said. “I definitely doubted myself a lot, because obviously seeing the results not coming, you start to ask yourself if you’re good enough,” he said.

“It wasn’t easy, but that’s why I did a big meeting with the team after Monza. I did a big reset mentally and just tried to refocus on important stuff — on the process — and that really helped.

“That was a big learning as well.”