Antonelli says Federer advice helped him reset amid F1 pressure

Kimi Antonelli headed to Spa-Francorchamps with a simple reset from Roger Federer after car problems cut his Formula 1 lead to 25 points. The Mercedes driver said the tennis great’s advice helped him narrow his focus at a moment when his title challenge had started to wobble.

Antonelli and Federer met at Wimbledon on July 6, 2026, in the Royal Box on day eight of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London. The meeting brought together Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy, one of the paddock’s most closely watched young drivers, and Federer, the former tennis player from Switzerland whose composure made him a model for athletes facing pressure.

Antonelli said Federer urged him to treat the championship one race at a time and to control his emotions. That message landed during a stretch in which reliability problems, not lack of speed, had dented his momentum and forced him to manage the mental side of a championship fight as carefully as the mechanical side. In Formula 1, where qualifying gaps are measured in thousandths and one bad weekend can swing the standings, keeping frustration under control can be as important as finding pace.

The advice also reflected the cross-sport respect that often shapes elite competition. Federer built his reputation on longevity, poise under pressure and the ability to keep winning through slumps, injuries and title runs, qualities that translate neatly to a driver trying to stay patient while the season keeps moving. For Antonelli, the lesson was not about changing his technique. It was about staying steady after setbacks and avoiding the overreaction that can follow a costly run of car trouble.

Antonelli arrived at the Belgian Grand Prix with that mindset in place. At Spa-Francorchamps, where margins are small and the pressure rises quickly, the challenge was to turn Federer’s advice into points and protect a title bid that had already been trimmed to 25 points.