Mercedes: Antonelli’s dip in form likely rooted in car changes

Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has suggested that changes to the team’s W16 may have unintentionally contributed to Kimi Antonelli’s slump in form, revealing that the teenage rookie is struggling more than teammate George Russell due to his lack of Formula 1 experience.

After showing early promise in his debut campaign, Antonelli has endured a bruising stretch over the last seven races, with four retirements, two finishes outside the points, and just a solitary podium – third in Montreal – punctuating his efforts.

After last Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, where Russell finished fifth and Antonelli again failed to make an impact, Shovlin shed light on the internal dynamics at play and pointed to car changes that may have disrupted Antonelli’s rhythm.

“I think what you've seen in the recent qualifyings is that George is leaning on his many years of experience in an F1 car to try and make the most of a difficult car,” Shovlin said.

“Kimi hasn't got that to drop back on, and that's probably why you've seen a bit of a shift in his results recently.”

Shovlin acknowledged that both drivers were wrestling with the limitations of the current W16, which has proven difficult to drive consistently, but Russell’s time in the sport was helping him manage the challenges better.

“It is quite likely something that we've changed on the car, and we need to get back to a baseline where it's working more normally,” he admitted.

“Kimi's had a few tough weekends, but he's getting a lot of engineering support from Bono and the engineers on that side of the garage.”

Focus Must Be on the Car, Not the Rookie

While Antonelli has come under increased scrutiny lately, Shovlin made it clear that the team does not place blame on the 18-year-old. Instead, he said, the onus is on Mercedes to resolve fundamental weaknesses in the car that have affected both drivers.

“We as a team are well aware that the thing that we need to focus on is the weaknesses in the car, not the bits that Kimi's struggling with,” Shovlin said.

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“And as I said, the fact is that George is leaning on all his experience, quite a bit of it driving difficult cars, to get the qualifying laps out of it. We're finding quite a lot of time during the session.

“It's just because George is learning to know when he can trust the car and [he] can lean on it, but he's not getting that feeling from it inherently.”

A Steep Learning Curve

Looking ahead to the Hungarian Grand Prix, Shovlin expressed confidence that Antonelli would bounce back, particularly if the team could deliver a more predictable and driver-friendly package.

“Kimi's on a steep learning curve and he's going to be getting better as a driver,” he said.

“The fact that his early performances were better than they are now is almost certainly that the car's not as competitive, and you can see that mirrored in George's results.”

With limited time between Spa and Budapest, Shovlin confirmed that Mercedes is exploring changes to help both drivers, but warned that any modifications must be purposeful.

“There are things that we can do to the car,” he said, “but we want to make sure we are focused on the right things, not just changing things for the sake of it.”

Shovlin also drew on historical examples to contextualize Antonelli’s challenges.

“We've seen it lots of times before as well, when a young driver comes in and they're in a very good car, they can often really impress.”

By addressing the W16’s shortcomings, Mercedes aims to provide Antonelli with a more competitive platform to showcase his talent and regain his early-season form.

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