Hamilton says Antonelli is 'doing fantastic' in F1 despite tough run of form

Lewis Hamilton has come to the defence of Kimi Antonelli after a poor weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix.

SPA, BELGIUM - JULY 24: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari talks with Andrea Kimi

Lewis Hamilton has come to the defence of Kimi Antonelli, claiming the young Italian is "doing fantastic" in his debut season of Formula 1 despite a recent bad run of form.

Antonelli joined Mercedes at the start of 2025 amidst plenty of hype after moving up following just one season of Formula 2 and replacing seven-time World Champion Hamilton after his move to Ferrari.

While the 18-year-old started his F1 career strongly, securing five points finishes in the first six races as well as a podium in Canada back in June, he has since come under increasing pressure due to a lack of results, having collided with Max Verstappen on the opening lap in Austria, which eliminated both, and non-scoring in Great Britain.

Antonelli endured a miserable weekend in Belgium, which included another non-score after failing to advance beyond the first stage of Qualifying for the Sprint and Grand Prix, the Italian appearing emotional in the media pen after the latter.

It's not the first time pressure has impacted Antonelli's performances on track, which included crashing on his F1 practice debut at the Italian Grand Prix last year amidst the hype.

He also admitted that he had burnt himself out ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with commitments ahead of his home race this year.

SPA, BELGIUM - JULY 26: Eighteenth placed qualifier Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and Mercedes AMGAntonelli was visibly emotional after his Q1 exit in Qualifying at Spa

Hamilton also failed to advance beyond SQ1 and Q1 in Belgium but made up 11 places in the Grand Prix to finish P7 and came to the defence of Antonelli post-race.

"I can't imagine what it's like at 18, or try to imagine what it's like at 18 to do what he's been doing," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.

"I think he's been doing fantastic to be thrown in at the deep end at 18.

"He didn't even have his driving licence when he started racing, so I think it's a lot on someone's shoulders and I think he's doing a great job.

"He's got a great group of people around him. I think he's just got to take it in his stride, which I think he is and as I say, he's got Bono [Pete Bonnington, Hamilton's former race engineer] beside him, so he couldn't have anyone better."

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