Just a couple of months ago, Kimi Antonelli's rookie of the year case was being fast-tracked for a multitude of reasons. He was the only rookie driving in a top-tier seat, meaning he was the only driver who could realistically vie for podiums consistently, which he delivered on in Montreal after a handful of positive moments.
But the wheels have come off in the past three months, to the the level where his confidence has clearly been shaken and his emotions are hitting him.
Kimi Antonelli's stats
Standings Position: 7th
Points: 64
Best Finish: 3rd
Best Qualifying Position: 3rd
Head-to-head race finishes (vs. Russell): 0-14
Head-to-head qualifying: 1-13
Head-to-head points: 64-172
Kimi Antonelli's overwhelming downturn
It's been a tale of two halves for the 18-year-old Italian. In his first six tries in F1, he finished lower than sixth just one time, a P11 in Bahrain that was more due to a strategy call than anything.
So despite not being particularly close on pace to George Russell, his early efforts were more than acceptable. But in the eight grands prix since, he's only been in the points one single time -- that time being his maiden podium in Canada. But amid the success has been pure turmoil.
Four retirements, most notably a first-lap crash with Max Verstappen in Austria when he fully overcooked it into the track's hairpin. Most of his other DNFs were out of his control, but that doesn't make it any easier.
His actual finishes were a P18 in Monaco, worst of all finishers. Then a horrifying weekend in Spa where he was eliminated in the first session of both sprint and grand prix qualifying, leading to P17 and P16 finishes. At this point, he was a month and a half removed from finished a race and nearly four months our from back-to-back races with a point.
The pressure perched on the teen F1 driver clearly started to hit him. Even the likes of Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Max Verstappen weren't faced with racing for a high level team right away.
He was at least able to manage a single point at the Hungarian Grand Prix despite a P15 start.
The struggles don't wipe away Kimi Antonelli's promise
Patience with drivers is hard to come by in F1, but Antonelli by default is going to be afforded at least a little bit of it.
By calling him up straight to Mercedes, as a Mercedes Junior Team driver, and now with Max Verstappen out of the picture, he will absolutely get at least two seasons to figure things out.
Let's not forget, Antonelli didn't have an incredible F2 season last year! And he skipped right past F3 on his way here. A lot of what he brings is based on hype he built from ages 12-16, basically winning everything he sat in pre-F2.
There is definitely reason to worry about his recent results, but it isn't reason to lose faith that he won't come back from this. He started with a handful of top six finishes, so he should make it back to that and better soon.