Since Lewis Hamilton quit Mercedes for Ferrari, George Russell has stepped up to prove himself a capable team leader while rookie Kimi Antonelli has also showed moments of brilliance

Valtteri Bottas has been helping to guide Kimi Antonelli in his first F1 season(Image: Icon Sport via Getty Images)

Rookie sensation Kimi Antonelli has already proven that replacing seven-time Formula 1 champion with an unproven teenager was the right call. That’s the view of Mercedes reserve Valtteri Bottas who has had a front-row seat to the 18-year-old’s impressive start to life on the F1 grid.

Mercedes endured an awful triple header of European races in recent weeks but there remains a spring in their step that was previously missing in the three years since they were knocked off their perch. And flying Finn Bottas, 35, credits enthusiastic teen Antonelli with helping to change the atmosphere after 12 years of working with Hamilton before the Brit quit for Ferrari.

“I think the results have improved from last year,” he told Mirror Sport . “Obviously we’re not happy that McLaren is still ahead and they seem to be quite clearly ahead. But at least, you know, the team has a chance of fighting for better positions.

“And also the dynamics always change a bit when you change drivers. So I think having such a young kid like Kimi, you know, it’s kind of refreshing probably for some people.”

Antonelli has had a tough run with zero points scored across the last three events, though mechanical issues were to blame for DNFs in Imola and Barcelona. In Monaco, he crashed out in qualifying with a rookie error which ended his hopes of scoring points on the spot.

Before the season even started, boss Toto Wolff acknowledged this is a year of learning for the Italian and knew that “sometimes we will tear our hair out”. But the Mercedes chief also correctly predicted “moments of brilliance”, like when he beat the McLarens and Max Verstappen to pole for the sprint race in Miami last month.

That, says Bottas, was the moment everyone at the team knew for sure that fast-tracking him into Hamilton’s F1 seat was the right call. He said: “He did something that nobody expected yet. In the first quarter of the first season of his career, sticking it on pole on a track that he didn’t know – that was pretty amazing. And I think for many people in the team, it confirmed that he was the right choice for this year.”

Bottas rejoined Mercedes as a reserve after losing his Sauber seat at the end of last season, new owners Audi choosing to install their own preferred driver line-up. He wants to get back on the grid in 2026 but for now is using his vast experience of five teams’ titles as Hamilton’s team-mate between 2017 and 2021, including 10 race wins, to help guide the team and Antonelli personally.

George Russell leads the Mercedes outfit while Kimi Antonelli learns the ropes in F1(Image: Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Bottas said: “I’ve been trying to help him when I can, especially on the new tracks that he doesn’t know. He’s got great engineers helping him, even his dad is helping him a lot. So I try to read the situation like when should I jump in and when to give him space as well.”

But while Antonelli is one for the future, Mercedes are not missing the leadership Hamilton once provided with George Russell stepping up admirably. The Brit is fourth in the drivers’ championship thanks to an impressively consistent start to the season.

Bottas said: “He seems to be very comfortable in what his role is now. He’s not a rookie anymore – he’s got a good few years under his belt – so his feedback is really important for the team now. As a rookie driver, your feedback isn’t quite as precise as with more experience.

“So I think the team has been relying quite a bit on him on that. And he’s been consistent, you know. He’s been, [at] almost every race, on the podium. He’s just putting the car where it should be.”