Mercedes have made a major blunder in the development of their Formula One car and teenage driver Kimi Antonelli is dealing with its direct consequences.
According to technical director James Allison, the 18-year-old rookie is struggling on the circuit, where he finished third in Canada in June for his first F1 podium but has since failed to score.
Kimi had to retire from two races since Montreal and finished 17th in a sprint race in Belgium last Saturday, and on the Grand Prix day, he secured the 16th rank.
The Italian driver, who is the sport's youngest ever race leader, has retired four times in the last seven rounds and admitted in Belgium that he was lacking confidence in the car and not driving as he would like.
On Tuesday, July 29, in a Belgian Grand Prix debrief, James noted, "I think he's, like the rest of us, massively fed up with a string of results that are well below what we were collectively achieving earlier in the year.”
"I hope he takes some solace from the fact that we tell him, and it's demonstrably a fact, that we have taken the wrong steps with the car, making our team less competitive, and that he is paying the price for that, as is George (Russell)," the 57-year-old added.
Sharing the reason why Kimi has been struggling, James said, "If the car isn't where it needs to be, then it will be a struggle getting through the qualifying stages in your rookie season in F1."
Mercedes are third overall in the F1 standings, 28 points behind second-placed Ferrari, with one win by George in Canada.
The British driver has been on the podium five times and is fourth overall with 157 points to Antonelli's 63.
