Mercedes are keeping the faith in junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli following a difficult start to his first season in Formula 2.
The 17-year-old is being considered as a potential replacement for Lewis Hamilton next year. But following his leap up from the Formula Regional European Championship to Formula 2 he is yet to produce much in the way of results so far this year.
At the halfway point in the season Antonelli lies ninth in the standings. Although his qualifying performances have been promising, with five appearances in the top seven over the first seven sessions, he has scored no points in the last four races.
However he is 20 points ahead of team mate Oliver Bearman, who earlier this week was confirmed as Haas’ new F1 driver for next year. Wolff acknowledged their Prema team, ordinarily one of the most competitive in the series, has struggled with the new chassis F2 has introduced this year.
“The season has been a bit tricky because overall the two [cars] have not been on a level and I think the team recognises that,” he said. “That wasn’t great.”
He said there are signs of potential in Antonelli’s performances, including at the Red Bull Ring last weekend where he finished 15th and 13th in the two races.
“Last weekend was pretty good. The pace was there, there were mistakes in the getaways, so that’s something a rookie needs to learn, that’s clear.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Mercedes decided to promote Antonelli past Formula 3 and straight into F2 before Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari next year catapulted their young star into contention for an F1 seat, subjecting him to unexpected scrutiny.
“He has a lot of pressure,” said Wolff. “He’s being talked a lot about. His junior formula and go-karting track record is one of a kind. And that’s clear that the pressure ramps up.
“But it’s like his father says, a champion needs to be thrown in the cold water and needs to swim. So they are very clear about that.”
Antonelli has been largely unaffected by the increased interest in him, Wolff said.
“What I like in terms of his attitude, and generally his family who has been always close to him, is the objective assessment of a situation, and that is ‘good’ or ‘not good enough’. And I don’t think that the pressure harms at all the way he performs in the car and how he drives.
“You can clearly see it’s a good benchmarking with Ollie Bearman. They are pretty close. Ollie…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at RaceFans…