Kimi Antonelli gets tweak to Mercedes car in bid to end poor F1 form

Andrea Kimi Antonelli has revealed he is reverting to an old suspension for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix to stop his performance decline in the 2025 Formula 1 season.

The Mercedes rookie started strongly with five points finishes in the opening six grands prix, including pole for the Miami sprint, but has scored just once across the last seven rounds.

Antonelli has put that down to a suspension change which came in for Imola, where his poor form started, negatively impacting the 18-year-old’s confidence as he struggled to adapt.

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Although his recent form has included a maiden F1 podium, Antonelli reckons that was down to Montreal having different track characteristics compared to the European rounds close to it on the calendar.

So at the Hungaroring, Antonelli and team-mate George Russell, who won in Canada, will revert to the suspension used earlier this year when Mercedes was the closest challenger to championship leader McLaren.

“That hopefully will bring the feeling back,” said Antonelli of the switch. ”Since we moved to that suspension, apart from Canada, I’ve been struggling to drive the car and get the confidence.

“Also, I didn’t adapt the best because I was always trying to keep my style and to drive the car the way I wanted, but it didn’t really work out.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, with his race engineer Peter Bonnington

Photo by: Joe Portlock / LAT Images via Getty Images

“George, on the other hand, has been adapting better. Also, he has a different driving style, but he’s been able to adapt a bit better.

“And I think that’s what’s been hurting me in this European season. So hopefully by going with the old suspension it will bring back a bit the feeling I had prior to the start of the European season.”

Antonelli reckons his aggressive driving style did not suit the suspension introduced for Imola and he had to learn to not push as hard.

“I was making the car even more unpredictable,” he said. “So, when I was really trying to push, it was hard to feel if it was going to stick or not.

“So, when you’re on that fine line it can really make a difference. If you have the confidence and you know it’s going to stick, it can really make a difference.

“But in my case, especially with the style I was driving the car, I was just making it more unpredictable and I was just having no confidence, because every time I was trying to push more, the car was struggling to take it or was just giving me signals that made me feel like it was not going to stick.

“So that’s why I’ve also been trying to change a bit the way I was driving to go towards the car, but I think I didn’t do a really good job on that. And yeah, I just hope that with the old suspension it’s going to bring the good feeling back.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

This all comes after what was arguably Antonelli’s most disappointing F1 weekend yet at Spa last time out.

Not only was the Italian knocked out in Q1 for both the sprint and grand prix, but he also failed to make much progress in the respective races, and that is when he knew a significant change was needed.

“I made a very clear point to myself, especially after Spa qualifying, that I wasn’t delivering,” said Antonelli, who was very emotional in the Belgian Grand Prix media pen afterwards.

“In Spa, I really looked inside myself and I made a clear point that with this suspension, I was not able to deliver as I could previously.

“And that probably also, I didn’t adapt the best way to extract the best performance out of the car. So, I made the point that at the moment I was not performing the best, and it was hard to accept.

“But it’s also, I think, good for yourself because it also helps you to set goals and also to try and prove yourself and work on yourself even harder.

“So it was not easy, but I think on the other side, it’s helpful because it helps you to refocus and to work harder on yourself even more.”

Antonelli heads into this weekend sitting seventh in the championship with Russell fourth, while McLaren’s Lando Norris and standings leader Oscar Piastri fight for the title.