Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s form is on the rise at Mercedes after scoring a fifth-place finish at the Singapore Grand Prix. The young Italian driver opened up about how teammate George Russell is helping him adapt to Formula 1.
“Every time I learn a lot from him, and especially when I go to new tracks,” Antonelli said.
The 19-year-old was quick to praise Russell’s abilities during the Singapore weekend.
“The good thing is that we’re pushing each other quite a lot,” he explained. “He’s extremely fast and always very early on the limit, so I can always learn a lot from him.”
“This weekend we’ve been pushing each other, and I would have liked to be there with him at the end of the session, which was really good.”
Antonelli qualified an impressive fourth on the grid and finished fifth in Singapore while his teammate Russell took the victory.
This marks his second consecutive top-five finish, following a strong fourth place in Azerbaijan.
The young driver seems to have found his rhythm since F1 left Europe, with both his top-five results coming in recent races.
Interestingly, Antonelli revealed he actually felt more pressure during the European races because they were tracks he was already familiar with.
“In the European period there have been many factors. I had more pressure on myself in general because I was at circuits that I knew,” he admitted.
He also pointed to technical challenges affecting his confidence: “That new suspension has been hard and I lost a lot of confidence.”
“It was a difficult period, but since Monza’s qualifiers, I started to find the feeling and now we’re in a positive trend. We’ll try to maintain it.”
## Antonelli’s form boost helping Mercedes in standings
Mercedes has been locked in a fierce battle with Ferrari for second place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Thanks to Antonelli’s fifth place and Russell’s win in Singapore, Mercedes now leads Ferrari by a healthy 25 points.
The British team’s strong weekend contrasted sharply with Ferrari’s struggles, as Charles Leclerc could only manage sixth while Lewis Hamilton finished eighth amid brake issues.
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