Nico Rosberg shares the advice he’s going to give Kimi Antonelli after making Lando Norris comparison

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli has not had the rookie Formula 1 season that some in the paddock would have expected.

When Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff decided that Kimi Antonelli was ready to replace Lewis Hamilton after his move to Ferrari, expectations were high.

Many were expecting Antonelli to reach the same heights as Hamilton or Max Verstappen in their debut seasons, such was the hype surrounding him.

However, Antonelli has suffered from the hype rather than being able to embrace it, even though there have been some brilliant highs.

His Sprint pole in Miami and podium finish at the Canadian Grand Prix have demonstrated his potential, but there have also been far too many low points for a Mercedes driver.

George Russell has left Antonelli behind in the drivers’ championship, and his crash into Charles Leclerc at Zandvoort only highlighted that he’s still lacking some of the racecraft needed to perform at the upper echelons of the sport.

Nico Rosberg and Martin Brundle were speaking about Antonelli ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, and especially about his approach to racing.

Brundle is worried about whether he was promoted to F1 too early, while Rosberg shared the advice he plans to give the teenager after comparing him to McLaren star Lando Norris.

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Nico Rosberg shares the advice he’s planning to give Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Antonelli was interviewed on Sky Sports F1 (7/9 12:46 pm) before the race at Monza and said: “It was pretty good [building momentum over the weekend]. It was a shame because I started well in FP1 and I had good momentum, and then in FP2, I ended up losing all of it because I went off so early.

“It felt like a new start yesterday morning in FP3, but I am happy with how I progressed during the session. It’s a shame because I felt I had a bit more to give, but we will try to do our best today.”

Responding to his comments, Brundle explained: “I think he recovered well again from his little trip through the gravel. We’ve seen him do that earlier on.

“This is a tough time for Kimi Antonelli, but he’s got the talent. We know from Nico, who ran him in karts and others.

“Maybe he’s ended up in Formula 1 just a little bit too early, but he’s got the talent. He’s a protected species there because Toto wants that to be the right decision. And I think he’ll weather the storm and make it through.”

Rosberg responded: “My one thing that I would say there again, he has a little bit of an approach like Lando in how he’s speaking to us.

“Like now, he did a great qualifying yesterday, but most of what he just talked about was a mistake in FP2, and how he was then on the back foot.

“He could have also just said, Yeah, finally, the qualifying was super, and it sets me up for a great race.

“That’s something that I will recommend to him, just be more positive! There’s no need to go back into yesterday’s difficulties or whatever.

“Nobody asked you about them. I think that would be something that could really help him.”

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Nico Rosberg tells Kimi Antonelli how to retain his Mercedes Formula 1 seat

Antonelli is one of a handful of drivers who haven’t officially confirmed his future beyond this season.

With just a few months remaining, Antonelli is still waiting for his one-year deal to be extended, and while Wolff has all but confirmed that he’ll be retaining both of his drivers for 2026.

Rosberg has warned Antonelli what he needs to do to retain his seat, and while a last-minute change of heart from Mercedes is unlikely, too many mistakes have crept into Antonelli’s race weekends recently.

If he can cut those out, then Mercedes might finally see Antonelli’s full potential emerge.