Kimi Antonelli: Mercedes F1 suspension change cost me "two or three months"

Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli believes the team's ill-fated suspension change cost him "two or three months" of development during his first Formula 1 season.

Mercedes introduced a tweaked rear suspension geometry at Imola's Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, back in May, as it further tried to home in on its relative lack of low-speed performance and its rear tyre temperature issues, taking inspiration from what McLaren's class leading MCL39 was doing on the rear of the car.

But that update introduced instability to the back end, and while experienced George Russell managed to drive around the issues to some degree, rookie Antonelli had a much tougher time.

Following a promising start to the year, Antonelli's form tanked over the start of the European season, sapping him of confidence. As Mercedes reverted its suspension changes, Antonelli slowly rebuilt his confidence and went on to enjoy a solid final leg of his rookie year.

"I think I've lost a good two or three months of progress," Antonelli recently reflected on the technical curveball thrown his way. "Obviously, I struggled with the rear end more than George. I struggled more to adapt, mainly to do my driving style.

"It was a difficult period because I just kept losing confidence, driving super tense and I just really struggled to make any progress. And obviously if I either was able to adapt better or if either I would have gone back earlier to the suspension, probably it would have been a bit different, and I would have been able to build momentum already at the end of the European season or halfway through it."

Andrew Shovlin, trackside engineering director Mercedes (right)

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Mercedes' trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said Antonelli is now a much more rounded grand prix driver as a result, with the Italian's ability to nail qualifying sessions the biggest area of improvement.

"We expected long runs to be the hardest, but he was strong there immediately," Shovlin said. "Single-lap performance took more work. Learning to trust the tyres and generate temperature early was key.

"He now understands the flow of a race weekend much better. His ability to describe what the car is doing has always been strong, which is one of the most important things.

“Over time, he’s building a database of cause and effect with setup changes. A key area is learning how hard to push — not under- or over-hitting. Budapest was an example where he overcooked it. Toward the end of the year, as results improved, he sometimes overdid it in Q3 after strong Q1 and Q2 performances.

"These are details drivers with many years of experience have learned the hard way. What’s good with Kimi is that once he learns something, it sticks. He’s not repeating the same mistakes. Overall, we’re very much on track with him."