Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli says Lewis Hamilton told him to enjoy himself in F1

LONDON (AP) — As an 18-year-old rookie taking over Lewis Hamilton’s spot at Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli is having an introduction to Formula 1 unlike any other. Fortunately, he’s had some advice from the seven-time champion.

“He said mainly to enjoy (it), not worrying about the external circumstances,” Antonelli told reporters Tuesday. “Just working on yourself, enjoy the process, that was the main thing he said.”

Given Hamilton’s legacy at Mercedes, where he won six titles, and his influence on F1, Antonelli prefers to be called “the next Mercedes driver” rather than the replacement for Hamilton, who’s now at Ferrari.

Hamilton’s own rookie season for McLaren in 2007 — one year after Antonelli was born — went down in F1 history as he won four races and missed out on the title by one point to Kimi Raikkonen.

“Looking back at his 2007 season, which was incredible because he almost won the championship in his rookie year, what was quite impressive was the consistency,” Antonelli said.

“What (Hamilton) did really well is starting off well and then keep developing without trying to do too much. That’s why he did an amazing season and that’s what I’m going to try to do.”

Bouncing back after a crash

Long considered one of the most promising talents in junior series, Antonelli raced in Formula 2 last year and got his first taste of F1 with a drive in Friday practice at his home Italian Grand Prix in August. Driving George Russell’s car, he had a high-speed crash and apologized to team principal Toto Wolff.

Antonelli said Mercedes gave him the support he needed.

“When you have the right people around you, they really help you not to get too bogged down by these things. I think the natural thing for a driver is you go on track and you try to push as hard as you can,” he said.

“And the F1 (cars) nowadays are really complicated on this factor because the aerodynamic (effect) is so powerful that the fine line between being on the limit and going over is so little. And as soon as you go 105%, it happens like what happened in Monza.”

Driving test nerves

Antonelli was able to drive an F1 car before he could legally drive on the road and only got his license last month. His examiner turned out to be a fan.

“I was quite nervous, I’m not going to lie, because I didn’t want to fail,” Antonelli said. “It was nice because after the test, we also had a nice conversation about everything because she’s really passionate about the sport.”

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing