JEDDAH :Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas may not be racing in Formula One this season but the 10 times grand prix winner has been helping the team’s young Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli go faster.
The vastly experienced 35-year-old Finn, veteran of 246 races, lost his seat at future Audi entry Sauber at the end of last year and returned to the former champions in a back-up role.
Antonelli, 18, credited Bottas with making a huge difference in helping turn things around for him on track in Japan this month.
“I’m never going to refuse or never not going to listen to any advice,” the Italian told reporters at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. “I’m just a young fella coming into the world of F1. I’ve got so much more to learn.
“So it’s been extremely helpful… Suzuka was a massive help. Together with him I was able to turn around massively the weekend from what it was looking before in practice to what it looked in qualifying and then after the race.
“In Suzuka I was definitely struggling a lot with (tyre) warm-up.
“So that was a really good help from him, explaining the best things to do in the warm-up in order to be able to extract the best of the tyre, having the tyres ready for the lap.
“It’s not so much about driving but all about those little details that can make the difference on track.”
Antonelli is sixth in the standings after four races and finished sixth in Japan.
He also became the youngest driver to lead a Formula One grand prix and set a fastest lap.
Bottas raced at Mercedes for five seasons from 2017-2021 alongside seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, now at Ferrari, and finished overall runner-up in 2019 and 2020. He won in Japan in 2019.
