‘Broken’ Kimi Antonelli fear as Guenther Steiner claims true Mercedes plan

Guenther Steiner believes Kimi Antonelli was promoted to the Mercedes seat too soon amid a drop in form for the 18-year-old.

The Italian impressed at the start of the year, but since Formula 1 has reached the European venues, his results have taken a noticeable dip.

Guenther Steiner raises Lewis Hamilton theory in response to Kimi Antonelli

Antonelli has scored just six points at European venues this season, in comparison to George Russell’s 33, and there have been plenty of questions raised over whether the rookie was brought into F1 too soon.

Ahead of the final race before the summer break, former Haas boss Steiner has theorised that Mercedes never planned to bring Antonelli in so soon but had to act following Lewis Hamilton’s surprise move to Ferrari.

“I think there was never a plan to have him in the car this year,” he told the Red Flags Podcast.

“The plan came when Lewis said, goodbye, ciao ciao. I’m going to Ferrari.

“Then the plan changed because I think the plan for Kimi was to do another year in Formula 2 and come in next year. I think it was a little bit too early.

“He’s 18 years old. I hope he is not broken now because he had a pole position, a podium, but the rest of it is pretty average, I would say, at best, what he’s doing compared to his teammate.

“He was crying there, which is never good because it seems like he lost his confidence. It’s not good, as I say.

“I think he’s a good driver. How good? Only time will tell, but he’s a good driver.

“But being under this pressure, I mean, look at Liam Lawson. When he was at Red Bull, he struggled.

“He went back to Racing Bulls, he’s doing a lot better now. He’s doing now what you can do in a Racing Bull.

“When you’re in one of these top cars, there is too much pressure on these guys.”

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Russell has lept to the defence of his team-mate, suggesting that a dip in results was due to the car more than the driver.

“I mean, the fact is he’s – in terms of his own performance – it’s no worse, and it was no better, no worse than at the start of the season,” Russell said.. “It’s just as a team we’ve gone backwards.

“In Canada, he was six tenths off me, but I qualified pole, and he was P4. So the pace of the car has a big influence on how a driver’s performance is perceived, so of course it’s frustrating for me. It’s frustrating for him, it’s frustrating for us as a team, but we’re in it together ultimately, and we need to figure it out.”

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