Kimi Antonelli intends to use Mercedes boss Toto Wolff's criticism of his recent performances as fuel for this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix. 

Antonelli qualified in seventh for the Italian Grand Prix last time out but ended the race in ninth, with Wolff describing his display over the three days as "underwhelming". 

It has been an indifferent start to life in Formula One for Antonelli, who endured a stretch of four retirements in six races from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix to Silverstone. 

However, sandwiched in between that poor run was a third-place finish at the Canadian Grand Prix, becoming the third-youngest driver to stand on the podium at 18 years and 294 days old, a feat only bettered by Lance Stroll (18y 239d) and Max Verstappen (18y 228d). 

Wolff's comments in Monza were the first time he had publicly criticised Antonelli, who is fighting for a seat in 2026, having only signed a one-year deal with the Silver Arrows. 

"I understand his comment," Antonelli said. "Me and Toto were always very open with each other and we talk to each other quite openly.

"I think it was mainly about the race. Qualifying was actually pretty good, despite the off in FP2, but then in the race, especially on the hard tyre, I struggled a little bit.

"So I think it was mainly related to the race, which I agree with the comment. It wasn't the best. I think I took the positive as fuel to do even better for this race weekend."

Kimi checking in for Thursday in Baku pic.twitter.com/OYFSEgmmnL

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Antonelli, though, can reflect on a positive start to life in F1, with the 19-year-old currently outperforming all of the rookie drivers, albeit in a much superior car. 

The young Italian has amassed 66 points so far this season and is eighth in the Drivers' Championship, 28 points clear of Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar when compared to other drivers experiencing their first full campaign in the competition. 

Antonelli revealed that his disappointing outing in Monza earlier this month had his mind focused for the remaining eight races of 2025, starting in Baku this weekend. 

"First of all, I just need to try to have clean sessions," he added. "In Monza, I went off in FP2 super early on and I ended up not doing long runs.

"And I went completely blind into the race, didn't get to feel the car on high fuel at all.

"And so it was a bit difficult because I had to learn in the moment and on the hard [tyre], I just struggled to find my rhythm. So that was not ideal.

"But of course, the speed in qualifying was much better in Monza.

"Hopefully we can carry this into this weekend. But the main goal is to have clean sessions and get as many laps as possible in the bag and then deliver in quali and then race."