Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has said comparisons between championship leader Kimi Antonelli and three-time champion Ayrton Senna will not help the 19-year-old in his bid for his first world title.
Antonelli took back-to-back victories for Mercedes at the last two races and heads into this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix with a nine-point lead in the drivers’ standings over teammate George Russell.
The strong start to the season has generated hype around Antonelli’s championship chances, particularly in his home country of Italy, but Wolff has warned against setting expectations too high.
“When it comes to Kimi, we’ve always been very clear in our objectives,” Wolff said. “We had our first learning year with great performances, highlights and then other moments where it was going to be very difficult.
“And we have exactly seen that and now we’re in the second year and he continues to develop in a way that we have hoped to see and forecasted. But at the same time, not by increasing expectations to irrational levels.
“And of course, in Italy, everybody wants to talk about world championships and comparisons to Senna come up, which is something which I don’t enjoy to read because he’s a 19-year-old who has been most visible in Italy. And it’s more about decreasing the expectations and pressure rather than increasing them. But he copes very well.
“He has a great personal environment and I think in the team, there are times where we put our arm around him, other times we exercise more pressure. But overall, everything is coming together as expected.”
Antonelli made a strong start to his debut season in F1 last year before experiencing a slump in performance when changes to Mercedes’ car made him feel less comfortable pushing to the limit.
Wolff said Mercedes would continue to strike a balance between supporting Antonelli during difficult moments and ensuring the 19-year-old learns the necessary lessons from setbacks.
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“We just need to continue to be authentic in our relationship with him,” Wolff added. “When it’s good, it’s good and say that.
“And when it’s bad, it’s bad and say that. How can you improve?
“And he doesn’t need to justify anymore to us that he hasn’t got the speed or hasn’t got the ability or hasn’t got the right character. Now it’s just a matter of more experience.
“And it’s something that comes over time. And then sometimes it’s putting the arm around it. Sometimes it’s saying you need to improve in that area.
“So I think we just continue what we’ve done and hope that’s going to yield great performances and outcomes.”
