Nico Rosberg believes that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff should sign Andrea Kimi Antonelli “this weekend” to relieve the mounting pressure on the young rookie driver. This comes after another difficult qualifying session, which will see him start 18th in the Belgian Grand Prix after starting 19th in the sprint race.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 following the qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps, Rosberg was sympathetic towards the Mercedes driver who failed to progress through both Q1 and SQ1 this weekend.
“In Australia, he almost finished on the podium from way back there [16th]. He finished fourth, if I’m not mistaken. And yes, he can do the same tomorrow, why not?
“If the conditions are really mixed and up and down and all over the place, then everything’s possible. Nevertheless, I mean, it really hurts me to see him in an interview like that because I can super relate how tough and how horrible the moment is for him.
“George, again, is P6 and he’s down all the way almost at the end of the grid. It’s so, so tough, you know. Everybody’s criticising you and looking at you a little bit negatively.
“Internally then, you know, in the team, it’s a very, very difficult dynamic. And he doesn’t have a contract for next year either. So his whole dream at some point is also at play here. And it’s really a horrible, difficult moment.”
Rosberg identified the Italian’s low confidence as being a contributing factor – something he would remedy by confirming his place in the team for next year.
“What I may do in Toto’s case, I would sign that contract with him. Anyway, it’s not much money. And that would give him such a boost of confidence.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Erik Junius
“And then if by any chance it really goes bad towards the end of the year, you can still pay him out and make a change, you know, as we’ve always seen in F1. But just signing that contract would give him certainly this one-step change of comfort, relaxation, time. I think that could be something interesting.”
When pressed by presenter Natalie Pinkham about signing “literally this weekend,” Rosberg doubled down:
“Yeah, yeah. Go for it. Sign the paper. Because it’s not much money. So worst case, if everything goes wrong, Toto can still get out of the contract.”
Antonelli currently sits seventh in the drivers’ standings with the Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc splitting him from George Russell, who is fighting in third. After a promising start to the season, his performance has slipped.
Talking ahead of the race weekend, Antonelli reflected on his performance through the European leg.
“It’s been challenging, I think. I’ve had quite a lot, you know, some highs and quite a few lows. I think the European season hasn’t gone very well.
“I think it’s gone pretty badly. I think a few mistakes on my side and then we had a couple of issues as well, but I think I’m still trying to learn a lot and trying to gather all the information, because sometimes, especially when you have back-to-back, it’s a bit difficult to put all the information that you get over a weekend together and trying to put what you learn on track right after. I think it’s been a bit challenging.
“Also, on my side, I think qualifying has been a bit weak, but it’s more for me about trying to put it all together, especially when you get to the point where you have to find the last couple of tenths. I think I’ve been not being that good on trying to do the right step, so I think overall it’s still been quite positive, because I’ve been learning a lot and we’ve got some good results, but now the second half of the season is important to do the step and to find more consistency myself.”
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