Antonelli already sees himself growing: 'More confidence each lap!'

The first day of Andrea Kimi Antonelli 's first Formula 1 weekend is over. The only 18-year-old Mercedes driver looks back on his first day of racing in Australia with a positive feeling. Despite the constructor still not really coming close to the times of Ferrari and McLaren, Antonelli reacted positively to his first day of racing in an official Formula 1 season.

"It was quite a positive day. There's some work to do on a single lap, just getting the tyres in the right window but overall it felt pretty good. I made a mistake at the end but I'm getting more and more confidence with every lap and the long run was quite positive today," Antonelli stated to Sky Sports after the second free practice session at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne.

Antonelli is looking at big shoes to fill with Lewis Hamilton having made the switch to Ferrari after a 12-year spell at Mercedes. His teammate, George Russell, highlighted Mercedes' struggles to find performance on the soft tyres, something the German team will hope to trun around ahead of the qualifying session scheduled for tomorrow in Melbourne.