Mercedes technical director James Allison has praised Kimi Antonelli for playing a "champion part" in not making any mistakes in a breakthrough Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Italian teenager entered the Baku City Circuit on the back of a nightmare European leg, which fell either side of a brilliant podium in Canada.
Across the nine races in Europe, Antonelli scored just three points, courtesy of finishing 10th in Hungary and ninth in Monza.
It led to some speculation whether the 19-year-old had been promoted too soon; however, he proved any doubters wrong with an impressive Baku performance.
In challenging qualifying conditions which caught out several big names, Antonelli navigated his way around cleanly to claim fourth on the grid.
While he was in podium contention for the entirety of the grand prix, the Mercedes driver had to settle for fourth – his joint-second best result of his maiden campaign.
Despite displaying some disappointment in not securing a podium, the result was a real confidence booster for Antonelli, who received high praise from Allison.
Reflecting on Antonelli's performance, Allison said: "I think the approach from all of us, really, just to make consistent sessions the order of the day, understanding with Kimi and that focus and attention on those free practice sessions is crucial for arriving in qualifying in good shape, which is crucial for making the race work out for you, and that any slip-ups in free practice are much more costly than they appear, so the concentration on that needs to be collectively high from all of us.
"And Kimi certainly played a champion part in making sure that he really didn’t put a foot wrong. I think he went up an escape road once during the weekend, but absolutely not a scratch on his car.
"Into qualifying, which was pretty difficult, you saw how many red flags there were in qualifying. Kimi came through that in good nick, did a good lap.
"He was within one gusty corner away from being P2 on the grid and had a good weekend as a consequence."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix! Oscar Piastri's shock Baku crashes are a major talking point, as is whether Max Verstappen has drawn himself back into the F1 title fight.
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