Toto Wolff believes Kimi Antonelli is matching Mercedes' expectations, but insists the Italian just needs more time to adjust to F1.
Antonelli has scored 48 points in nine races so far, finished fourth on debut in Australia, and set Sprint race pole in Miami to make him F1's youngest pole-sitter in any format, eclipsing Sebastian Vettel's record from 2008, although Vettel still retains the 'youngest pole-sitter' accolade.
Across all 11 qualifying sessions thus far, including Sprints, Antonelli has a deficit of 0.355s to team leader George Russell, with an average grid spot of 7.6 to Russell's 4.7.
His average race placing from the nine events he has finished is 7.8, to Russell's 4.6.
The Italian also grabbed outright F1 records in Japan for the youngest driver to lead a grand prix and the youngest driver to set a fastest lap, with Wolff largely pleased with the progress Lewis Hamilton's replacement is making.
"I like the development trajectory," Wolff told media, including RacingNews365.
"With our expectations, he is doing exactly what we expect from him, and that is good. We just need to give him time."
For his part, Antonelli, who remains the highest placed rookie in the standings with more than double the points of the next-best Isack Hadjar on 21, feels he just needs to piece together weekends.
"On my side, the goal now is to try and put everything together," he explained.
"Because the potential is there, and in [Spanish GP] qualifying, on that last lap, the potential to finish higher up was there.
"I didn't really put everything together, but it was nice to get back into the rhythm after two difficult weekends, especially with qualifying."
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