{"id":37110,"date":"2025-08-29T04:56:35","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T08:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=37110"},"modified":"2025-08-29T08:41:57","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T12:41:57","slug":"antonelli-admits-feeling-really-drained-before-summer-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/08\/29\/antonelli-admits-feeling-really-drained-before-summer-break\/","title":{"rendered":"Antonelli admits feeling “really drained” before summer break"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kimi Antonelli<\/a> started his F1 career in impressive fashion at the Australian GP, recovering from the back of the field to finish in P4.<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old secured a series of solid results in the following races, including a first podium at the Canadian GP.<\/p>\n

Alongside his fastest lap in the Miami Sprint qualifying, these result painted a picture of Antonelli’s potential.<\/p>\n

Since then, a combination of factors have seen the Italian fail to replicate this early form.<\/p>\n

Antonelli has managed just one point from the last four races, which is something he intends to change this weekend.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Belgian Grand Prix, Friday, Sebastian Kawka<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Antonelli refreshed after summer break<\/h2>\n

Although your first season in Formula 1 is always an immense challenge, the pressure Kimi Antonelli<\/a> experienced was uniquely intense.<\/p>\n

A prodigy of the Mercedes Academy, the Italian’s junior career was followed intensely for many years.<\/p>\n

The team’s decision to put him directly from Formula Regional to Formula 2 for the 2024 season was an early indication of Mercedes’ belief in his potential.<\/p>\n

Antonelli’s Mercedes contract was announced only a few months later, with Toto Wolff<\/a> eager to secure his services.<\/p>\n

Arguably still impacted by missing out on Verstappen a decade ago, Wolff would not make the same mistake with Antonelli.<\/p>\n

Generally speaking, the youngster deserves immense praise for his efforts this season.<\/p>\n

Against a very strong teammate in George Russell<\/a>, Antonelli has managed to hold his own.<\/p>\n

Russell is obviously faster at the moment, but the 18-year-old’s progression (given he was racing in Formula Regional two years ago) is to be commended.<\/p>\n

Still, Antonelli experienced a tough patch in the final four races before the summer break.<\/p>\n

The Mercedes<\/a> driver is thankful to have had a few weeks to reset, and looks to bounce back in Zandvoort:<\/p>\n

“The break was very important, for sure.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Because it’s been a very intense first part of the season. Not going to lie, I was pretty drained coming into the last couple of races.<\/em><\/p>\n

“But, you know, this holiday was good to reset and reorganise all the ideas, all my thoughts.<\/em><\/p>\n

“And yeah, I’m really excited to be back,”<\/em> Antonelli emphasised.<\/p>\n

“It’s the start of a new chapter, I feel good and really excited… hopefully we can kick off well.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Belgian Grand Prix, Sunday, Sebastian Kawka<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A learning curve for Antonelli<\/h4>\n

A team of Mercedes’ stature always aims to fight for titles – which is why their results under these regulations have been so disappointing.<\/p>\n

Having achieved important strides with last year’s package, the Silver Arrows failed to progress after introducing mid-season updates to the W16.<\/p>\n

With the 2026 regulations on the horizon, this has essentially condemned Mercedes to fighting for podiums – whilst the McLaren<\/a> duo battle for wins.<\/p>\n

From Antonelli’s perspective, however, a less competitive car is not necessarily a bad thing.<\/p>\n

To be clear, the 18-year-old is fiercely ambitious and has already shown a clear determination to win.<\/p>\n

With that said, Antonelli could benefit from being under slightly less scrutiny in the second half of the year.<\/p>\n

Given that podiums will be difficult for Mercedes to acquire, the Italian can focus on securing regular points finishes and rebuilding himself after a tough patch.<\/p>\n

A clean end to the season could be categorised as a success at this stage of his career.<\/p>\n

Main photo: Richard Pardon (via Mercedes media gallery)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kimi Antonelli started his F1 career in impressive fashion at the Australian GP, recovering from the back of the field to finish in P4. The 18-year-old secured a series of solid results in the following races, including a first podium at the Canadian GP. Alongside his fastest lap in the Miami Sprint qualifying, these result […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":37114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2452,2277,121,2461],"class_list":["post-37110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-kimi-antonelli","tag-mercedes","tag-w16"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37110"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37148,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37110\/revisions\/37148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}