Lewis Hamilton steps in with support for struggling Kimi Antonelli: “Can always lean on me”

Lewis Hamilton has opened up on his support for Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, revealing that he had let the Italian driver know he could always lean on him if he needed anything. 

Hamilton decided to leave the Brackley outfit after a 12-year stint at the end of 2024 to join Ferrari, paving the way for the young Italian driver to take the seat alongside George Russell. Antonelli had a strong start to the season with a fourth-place finish in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as well as securing pole position for the Miami sprint race. But in recent races, he has seen a drop in performance.

After finishing the Belgian Grand Prix in 16th position, Antonelli revealed that Hamilton had been to visit him in the Mercedes hospitality.

“Well, I mean I always let him know that I’m there,” Hamilton explained to Motorsport.com and other media in Hungary. “I think it’s always important to let people know they’re not alone, so I let them know that. I try not to encroach, like get in the way or anything like that, but just let them know that you can always lean on me if you have any needs.
 
“He’s already got an amazing group of people around him, and he’s 18. I mean, I wasn’t ready at 18. He clearly is, because he’s done a great job this year, particularly the first half of the year, the way he’s jumped in, and I’ve been behind him several times, but he’s clearly got the ability, and it’s just about experience.
 
“It’s very difficult when you want to succeed, and with all the pressure and everything, it’s sometimes difficult to handle, but I think he’s been doing really, really well, and he’s a really great lad.”

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images

Antonelli’s team-mate Russell has also witnessed a drop in performance and, ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, was set to have a meeting with Mercedes.

“Yeah, it was pretty underwhelming, to be honest,” he explained to Sky Sports F1 after last week’s Belgian Grand Prix. “Because we tend to favour the cooler conditions. So we couldn’t have really asked for better weather for us. But we’ve just had no pace recently. We need to sit down, all of us.
 
“We’re going to have a big meeting this week with all the designers and engineers. To sort of understand the decisions we’ve made in recent weeks or months. And why we’ve gone backwards. So hoping for some improvements in Hungary.”

Photos from Hungarian GP – Thursday