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Andrea Kimi Antonelli admitted he succumbed to pressure when he suffered a slump in form during the middle of his debut season last year.
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The Mercedes driver went through a seven-round spell when he finished in the points just once – albeit on the podium. His dip in form coincided with changes to Mercedes’ car which he struggled to get to grips with.
“I had a good start to the season, then I had a difficult period,” said Antonelli in a recent interview. “In the European season I really struggled and in that moment I let the pressure kind of destroy me as well during that period.
“I felt like I was letting down so many people who had believed in me. Of course especially Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team principal], because he was the main one who took the decision [to promote him].
“Obviously I didn’t feel good in that period. I wasn’t doing well. But then I had a big meeting with the team after the European season and it kind of allowed me to reset and just start again.
“Then I slowly found my way back. I had a good second half of the season and that gave me confidence, being able to overcome those difficult moments and gave me the confidence ahead of this year. It also made me learn a lot about myself, not only as a driver, but as a person as well.”
Antonelli said the experience taught him useful lessons about coping with adversity. “Obviously [during] that European season, I think probably most of the things I did, didn’t help me at all,” he said.
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“But also I learned about how my body responds to those moments, how my brain responds, what helps me to get back into the right focus, the right mindset, what helps me to stay 100% in terms of energy during the whole weekend. So how to manage myself with events, obviously the driving and everything. So I’ve learned a lot about myself and how as well to respond to difficult moments.”
Mercedes promoted Antonelli directly to their top team, in the seat formerly occupied by Lewis Hamilton, at the age of 18. Antonelli said making his F1 debut with a front-running team left him feeling depleted by the end of the 24-round championship.
“I was so drained at the end of the year,” he said. “Obviously the team did an incredible job in trying to protect me. But the learning curve – I think I’ve learned much more than if I would have done in a smaller team.
“The learning curve was incredible, it was like doing three years at once. It was overwhelming, physically, mentally, because I’ve made so many new experiences as well.
“Also, doing a full F1 season for the first time, you don’t really know where you’re going, what you’re about to face. Obviously the year prior to F1, I’ve been doing race shadowing and everything, but it’s not the same.
“When I was doing shadowing, I was watching, I wasn’t there on track doing the job. So I felt very overwhelmed at the end of the year. And it was good to have a bit of a break to just have a little bit of time to analyse and reflect on the year and understand what were the good things and why and why some things went not in the right way.”
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Having become the youngest driver to lead the world championship, Antonelli says he is trying to enjoy the position and the attention which comes with it, particularly in his home country.
“It’s like in any sport at the highest level, there’s always pressure and of course, being Italian, Italy has been missing an Italian driver for quite a long time and obviously also knowing myself because I’m Italian.
“We know how as Italians we can get very excited about things and how expectations can get over the moon. But obviously that comes with a bit of a extra pressure. But I’ve been enjoying, I have been enjoying. I think what I’ve been trying to do as well is to embrace the pressure and trying to actually shine under pressure.”
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