Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli has spoken openly about how difficult it was for him to adapt to the new rear suspension introduced by the team during the summer. According to the young Italian, this technical change played a significant role in the challenges he faced during his first season in Formula 1.
The 2025 campaign proved to be a season of ups and downs for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, which is entirely understandable given that it marked his debut at the highest level of single-seater racing.
Strong performances were alternated with more complicated weekends, especially during the central part of the season. This phase coincided with Mercedes introducing a new rear suspension that was supposed to help the W16 manage tyre wear more effectively over long runs. However, the update also brought unforeseen side effects.
Antonelli, due to his limited experience in Formula 1, paid a high price for this technical shift, struggling to build confidence with the new solution. Only once the team reverted to the suspension specification used at the start of the season was he able to return to delivering solid and consistent performances. By his own admission, this period cost him several weeks of valuable development.
“I think I lost a good two or three months of progress,” Antonelli recently reflected when discussing the difficult technical situation he had to deal with. “Obviously I had more difficulties than George with the rear end. I struggled more to adapt, especially with my driving style.”
“It was a tough period because I kept losing confidence, I was driving in a very tense way and I really struggled to make progress. Obviously, if I had managed to adapt better or if we had gone back to the old suspension earlier, it probably would have been a bit different and I could have already built some momentum towards the end of the European season or even halfway through it.”
Mercedes technical director Andrew Shovlin admitted he was surprised by how quickly Kimi Antonelli managed to find a strong pace during long runs. The area that demanded more work from the 19-year-old, however, was qualifying preparation, where it is crucial to bring the tyres into the correct temperature window and trust them once pushing on a flying lap.
“We expected the long runs to be the hardest part, but he was immediately very strong there,” Shovlin said. “Single-lap performance required more work. Learning to trust the tyres and generate temperature early was key.”
“He now understands the flow of a race weekend much better. His ability to describe the behaviour of the car has always been excellent, which is one of the most important qualities. Over time, he is building a database of cause-and-effect relationships linked to setup changes.”
Over the course of the season, Andrea Kimi also made a few errors born out of generosity, asking too much of the tyres during the hottest phases of qualifying. This cost him several positions on the grid. Similar situations were seen again towards the final races of the year, but Kimi Antonelli, as Shovlin pointed out, has shown a clear ability to learn from his mistakes and avoid repeating them.
“A key aspect is learning how much to push, without overdoing it or holding back too much. Budapest was an example where he pushed too hard. Towards the end of the year, as results improved, sometimes he overdid it in Q3 after very strong performances in Q1 and Q2.”
“These are details that drivers with many years of experience have learned the hard way. The great thing about Kimi is that once he learns something, he applies it. He doesn’t repeat the same mistakes. Overall, we are very happy with him.”
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