Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has insisted once again that Kimi Antonelli has faced "tremendous pressure" in his debut season.
It was announced ahead of the United States Grand Prix that Mercedes had retained George Russell and Antonelli for next year, keeping the latter in F1 for a second season.
While it took Mercedes until October to confirm its 2026 driver pairing, Wolff informed media on several occasions that both drivers would be retained.
Asked if retaining Russell and Antonelli was an easy decision, Wolff said: "It was always the decision that we took from the get-go. It was the lineup that we chose last year.
"We knew that George can hold up the leadership role in there. It’s been really great, and Kimi is in a learning year. So going forward, it was pretty much a no-brainer."
As highlighted by Wolff, Russell has led the Silver Arrows while Antonelli has adjusted to F1. It has been a difficult year for the 19-year-old, who scored just three points across all European races.
However, not at any point has Wolff felt doubt over Antonelli's potential or regretted handing him Lewis Hamilton's seat.
Discussing if he ever had any doubts over Antonelli, Wolff insisted: "Never. When you look at his junior record, his personality, there's no doubt in me or within the team that it was the wrong decision to take and give him the opportunity."
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Major Antonelli pressure
Becoming an F1 driver has been a massive challenge for Antonelli, given the pressure which comes with moving straight into a race-winning factory team.
In addition to that, Antonelli has faced major pressure from his homeland of Italy, having become the nation's first driver in the pinnacle of motorsport since Antonio Giovinazzi in 2021.
Earlier this year in Zandvoort, in the midst of Antonelli's difficult period, Wolff jumped to the defence of his young star, stressing the pressure he is under.
"I still stand by what I said," added Wolff. "If you're being parachuted into a leading team and your teammate is winning races and fighting in the top positions for the championship, there's tremendous pressure.
"You add to the equation that he's Italian, and Italy has been starved of competitive drivers for a while—that has played its role. So, in terms of my expectations, it's still a learning season. You have five or six races to go—tracks that he doesn't know.
"Austin is one of them. I'm sure we're going to see some very good results. We're going to see trickier sessions and trickier weekends. But all of that is being reset with the start of next season. He will have seen the tracks.
"The cars are new for every driver—that’s a big factor. These guys have been around these cars for a while, and he will have seen how to best manage pressure from the media and all of the stakeholders. That was the aim for this season—to do exactly that."
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