Kimi Antonelli opens up on private Lewis Hamilton chat after Brit made classy gesture

Kimi Antonelli has opened up about his conversation with Lewis Hamilton ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion paid a visit to the Mercedes motorhome to offer his support to the 18-year-old rookie, who replaced him as George Russell's team-mate. Antonelli started his F1 career in fine form, scoring a fourth-place finish on debut at the Australian Grand Prix in treacherous conditions, before finishing sixth in four of the following five races.

However, he has struggled since scoring a sprint pole in Miami, and now has six finishes of 16th or worse in the last seven events. The Belgian GP was particularly testing for the teenager. He was knocked out in Q1 in both the sprint shootout and qualifying, ruining his hopes of a strong finish. Ahead of the Grand Prix, Hamilton was spotted leaving the Mercedes motorhome in the paddock after speaking with Antonelli.

"He came to say hi to the team, and definitely we had a couple of words," the Mercedes rookie explained. "He was telling me to keep my head up and that it's normal to have bad weekends. And just to keep believing. It was really nice."

With such immense pressure on the 18-year-old's shoulders, Hamilton has been quick to lend his support. In 2024, at the end of his stay in the European leg motorhome, the legendary Brit even left a hand-written message of support for his successor in his warm-up room.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after Sunday's outing, Hamilton again came out to bat for Antonelli. "I can't imagine what it's like at 18 - or try to imagine what it's like at 18 - to do what he's doing," he said.

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"He's been doing fantastic. But to be thrown in at the deep end at 18... he hadn't even had his driving licence when he first started racing. I think it's a lot on someone's shoulders.

"He's doing a great job, and he's got a great group of people around him. So, I think you've just got to take it in your stride, which I think he is. And he's got Bono [race engineer Peter Bonnington] by his side. He doesn't have anyone better."

Fortunately for Antonelli, the coast for 2026 is now clear with Max Verstappen set to remain with Red Bull, rather than switching to Mercedes. This will give the Bologna-born starlet more time to settle in, and with new machinery coming to the grid with the new technical regulations, the playing field will level out as all F1 drivers are forced to adapt.