Kimi Antonelli has credited Mercedes boss Toto Wolff with offering him support and advice during “difficult moments”, with the youngster recalling how Wolff helped him to bounce back from a tough time earlier in his debut Formula 2 campaign.
Antonelli made the step up to F2 this year – having bypassed F3 during what has been a rapid ascent through the motorsport ranks – but the 17-year-old’s first season in the category has not been entirely smooth sailing after the PREMA team faced a challenging start to the campaign.
Their fortunes have improved in the time since, however, and Antonelli has gone on to claim two race victories at Silverstone and Budapest, putting him in seventh place of the drivers’ standings with four rounds remaining.
While the season has had its ups and downs, Antonelli acknowledged that he did not expect instant success in Formula 2.
“No, because I never expected to go straight into F2,” the Italian explained in an interview with Motorsport.com. “When they informed me that this was the plan, I thought it would be a big jump, because you usually go to F3 first, but at the same time the challenge was immediately appealing to me.