Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has claimed it is "wrong" for Kimi Antonelli to solely shoulder the blame for his recent poor run of form.
From the start of the European season in the 18-year-old's rookie campaign in F1, he has endured a difficult patch, which saw him fail to score a point in his first six grand prix on the continent, despite his maiden podium, at the Canadian Grand Prix, coming in the middle of that run.
The young Italian broke that streak at the Hungarian Grand Prix, finishing tenth, but only after Mercedes walked back its ill-fated rear suspension upgrade that was introduced to the W16 at the same point Antonelli suffered a downturn in results.
Shovlin highlighted how that "created a bit of a problem" for Antonelli and team-mate George Russell, who also saw his performances take a hit.
Having started the season strongly with five points finishes in his opening six rounds, the trying period hit the teenager hard.
It clearly affected his confidence as he searched for answers and attempted in vain to arrest his slide in form, something evident through his very open style of communication with the press.
Ahead of his return to the points-scoring places at the Hungaroring, Shovlin was asked if he was surprised about how honest Antonelli is publicly.
"He doesn't really surprise us, because we've known him in the team for a long time, and you can see that he is his own harshest critic," the 51-year-old told media, including RacingNews365.
"There's no doubt that we have created a bit of a problem in the recent races with him that he is having to deal with, and it's wrong for him to try and own all of that as being a Kimi problem."
Shovlin highlighted that a considerable portion of Antonelli's loss of performance is down to the Brackley-based squad, not its young driver, but did underline that his introspection is a good thing.
"A large chunk of that is a team problem," the Briton said. "But he's ever such a nice driver, and nice to have in the team, and it's nice to see that he's looking at himself."
He acknowledged how the now-rowed back development has "hurt" Antonelli, particularly when compared to his more experienced team-mate, too.
"But as I said, we need to help him get through this," Shovlin added. "And we've seen enough from him this year to know the talent that he has; he's extremely young, he's only going to get better from where he is, but it certainly has hurt him.
"The last few races have hit him harder than George."
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