Andrea Kimi Antonelli expands on help from Valtteri Bottas – especially in Japan where he was struggling – as he learns the nuances in his first F1 season.
It is not just about experience, but also age that is a factor for Mercedes’ Antonelli in his first F1 season. The Italian was fast-tracked to the pinnacle after a solid junior career, where he even skipped F3. It was a gamble from the team, but it is one that has paid off mostly till now.
He is down on pace when compared to teammate George Russell, but he has shown good promise and has scored points which has helped Mercedes be second in the constructors’ championship so far. He is still learning, especially the nuances of F1 which he hasn’t encountered as yet.
It is one thing having raw pace and a good racing skillset, but it won’t work if you are not having a good weekend. Out of the five rounds so far, Antonelli faced difficulties in Japan mostly. He was pretty aloof in practice, but slowly found some rhythm in qualifying and it was much better in the race.
When you don’t start a weekend on a good note, you are then left chasing performance. But Antonelli was aided by Mercedes reserve Bottas during the course of the weekend. The Finn comes with enormous experience which the Italian feels is helping not just him, but the team as well.
“I’m never going to refuse or, I’m never going to listen to any advice they give you,” said Antonelli to media, when asked about Bottas’ role in helping him. “Because, obviously…first of all, I’m just a young fella coming into the world of F1. And I’ve got so much more to learn and, yes, a lot of experience.
“So, there’s no reason why I wouldn’t listen to any of this advice. And, of course, I try to embrace it and try to put it on track as well, what they learn. So, it’s been extremely helpful. That’s why I am really open to any advice he gives. Like Suzuka was a massive help together with we were able to turn it around massively in the weekend.
“From what it was looking in the practice to what it looked in qualifying and the end of the race, so definitely really happy to have someone like him and really open to embracing any kind of advice. In Suzuka definitely I was struggling a lot with warm-up. And from past events, he used to be really good in tracks where time was really close.
“So, definitely that was a really good help from him. Explaining the best things to do in the warm-up in order to be able to extract the best of the time. And having the tyres ready for the lap. So, mainly it’s all about, not really, not much driving. It’s all about these little details that can make a difference on track,” summed up Antonelli.
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