‘Scared’ Kimi Antonelli wishes he knew how idol Ayrton Senna overcame one issue that shakes him

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Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli has lost some of the shine from his rookie F1 campaign following a difficult run, which has yielded 15 points in the last six rounds.

The 18-year-old recorded a record-breaking start to his Formula 1 career after Mercedes put Antonelli on the grid to replace seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton. But he has only taken one point-scoring finish since the Italian scored points in five of his first six Grand Prix starts.

Mercedes even saw Antonelli score points in tricky conditions on his F1 debut with P4 in the Australian Grand Prix, despite starting from P16 on the grid due to damaging his floor during Q1. He even became the third-youngest driver to start a Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Antonelli broke Max Verstappen’s record as F1’s youngest Grand Prix leader in Japan, where he also became the youngest driver to set the fastest lap of a race. Mercedes gem Antonelli became the youngest-ever F1 polesitter in the Miami Sprint, too, but he has struggled since.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli wishes he could ask Ayrton Senna how he overcame ‘fear’ after crashing

Through the six rounds since the Miami Grand Prix, the Bologna boy has only secured points once when Antonelli got his debut F1 podium with P3 in the Canadian Grand Prix. A mixture of unreliability (Imola, Spain) and crashes (Monaco Q1, Austria, Britain) has cost him a lot.

READ MORE: Know all about 2025 Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli including stats

Antonelli has also now admitted that he gets ‘a bit scared’ after crashing, and it can cost him time. So, the Italian would have loved to ‘ask’ his idol Ayrton Senna how the Brazilian would not only recover but go ‘even faster’ after crashing in his three-time F1 title-winning career.

Antonelli told Corriere della Sera: “I’d ask him how he managed to overcome fear after an accident, and go even faster. Because when you have an accident, you’re a bit scared. We drivers don’t think about it, we live with it.”

Crashes have become an unfortunately regular occurrence for Kimi Antonelli in Formula 1

Crashes have become an unfortunately regular occurrence for Antonelli of late, and also on his F1 weekend debut in FP1 for the 2024 Italian Grand Prix. While driving George Russell’s car, Antonelli had a 52G crash at Monza’s Parabolica that impacted his confidence this year.

READ MORE: All to know about Ayrton Senna including Alain Prost rivalry and Imola crash

Bologna native Antonelli admitted after scoring his first F1 podium at the 2025 Canadian GP that he had ‘overcorrected’ after his crash during FP1 for the 2024 Italian GP. He even said it made him drive ‘a bit too safe’, yet his podium would sit on either side of two costly crashes.

Antonelli crashed in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix when the Mercedes driver clipped the inside barrier at the Nouvelle chicane as he sought to get through to Q2. The Italian had fallen to P15 and sat on the cusp of the elimination zone when he turned in faintly too early.

The 18-year-old was also at fault for his retirement at the Red Bull Ring, as Antonelli crashed into Verstappen on Lap 1 of the Austrian Grand Prix having locked his rear brakes. But it was not his fault when Isack Hadjar rear-ended Antonelli in the rain during the British Grand Prix.