Mercedes detail Lewis Hamilton role as fresh Kimi Antonelli plan revealed

Mercedes believes Lewis Hamilton's vocal support for Kimi Antonelli is “entirely within character" as it revealed a fresh plan to aid the latter's tricky rookie season.

Italian protege Antonelli was picked as Hamilton's replacement at Mercedes after 12 seasons with the team, which yielded 84 race wins and six world drivers' titles, with Hamilton opting to join Ferrari for 2025.

Antonelli initially started strongly, with a fourth place on debut in the wet Australian GP, before going on to take Sprint pole in Miami.

He became an all-time F1 record holder in just his third race in Japan with the fastest lap and leading for three laps, becoming the youngest driver to achieve both feats.

In Canada, Antonelli banked a maiden F1 podium, but his form has dipped just as the Mercedes W16 has suffered a drop in performance, with team leader George Russell only taking two podiums of his own since Miami, although one of these was a win in Montreal. 

Throughout Antonelli's peaks and troughs, Hamilton has been a vocal defender of his replacement, insisting Antonelli "is doing fantastic" and that "I can't imagine what it is like at 18 to do what he's been doing."

Antonelli was announced as Hamilton's replacement during the 2024 Italian GP weekend, with the Briton's time with the team ending on a relatively downbeat note, with poor performances in the United States and Brazil. 

But despite this, team representative and communications director Bradley Lord has explained how Hamilton was still offering advice to Antonelli even amid his own struggles.

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Lewis Hamilton support for Kimi Antonelli

"It is entirely within character and in line with the Lewis that we've known for many, many years," Lord told select media, including RacingNews365, of Hamilton's involvement with Antonelli. 

"Kimi was around the team at the end of last season, and Lewis offered his advice, his support and encouragement in that time, notwithstanding the fact that it was, at points, a pretty difficult end to the season for him.

"He's a fantastic ally for the young drivers in the sport. He has a great understanding, and probably no one has a better understanding of what it means to come in with very high expectations to a top team in a rookie season, as he did in 2007.

"His support his hugely appreciated by Kimi, and the other young drivers who receive it as well.

"A rookie season has its ups and downs, and it is full of learning, and that is going to be positive learnings and surprises, but also more difficult moments.

"It is certainly true that, as one would expect, where the car has become more difficult, both drivers are lacking confidence in their ability to commit to the corner, that it is cost him confidence, and the step backwards in performance means that we are more vulnerable to those early exits in qualifying than earlier in the season.

"The key thing is, and we've already said this first and foremost, is that the car isn't there, it is not any doubt or lack of anything from Kimi's side, aside from the lack of experience that he hasn't got yet, and hasn't had the opportunity to acquire."

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A plan for Antonelli

Mercedes and boss Toto Wolff have taken responsibility for the drop in performance from the W16, which coincided with the start of the European season.

An upgrade at Imola was subsequently removed from the car, which remains sensitive to fluctuations in track temperature, preferring cooler conditions. 

As the season heads towards its European climax and towards the long-haul flyaways, Lord detailed Mercedes' plan to aid Antonelli and what it wants him to focus on learning as opposed to headline "outcomes."

"Our approach is encouraging him to see, to take the learnings from these experiences, rather than focusing on the outcomes and then focusing on what is the process of regaining that confidence," Lord explained.

"That comes from spending time with the engineers, and really understanding what we're doing with the car and how he can extract the maximum from it. 

"For us, the priority is giving him a car with which he can express the talent that we know he's got and realise the potential we know is there.

"We knew that we were setting a very high bar, and it was a huge challenge, not just to come in. Coming into Formula 1 full-stop is a huge thing to do, and to do so in a team with the level of expectation as Mercedes, it is even bigger.

"We knew we took that decision with open eyes, and our job is to support Kimi to deliver in that environment and give him the conditions to deliver and realise that potential. 

"Obviously, the more you can give a rookie driver a car they can be confident in, that is predictable, the easier that process will be, and that is where we have fallen down in the second quarter of the season, and hopefully we can find a better direction as we go forward."