Lewis Hamilton refutes claims that he went to see Kimi Antonelli before F1 Belgian GP

Lewis Hamilton was spotted in the Mercedes hospitality area ahead of the 2025 Belgian GP main race. Sources suggested that the seven-time F1 champion had gone to visit the F1 rookie Kimi Antonelli, who replaced him at Mercedes and was almost in tears after the disappointing qualifying at Spa Francorchamps. Ferrari recently came out and refuted the claims of comforting the young Italian driver.

Kimi Antonelli made his F1 debut earlier this year and impressed everyone with a P4 finish at Australia. However, the Italian has been struggling since the Emilia Romagna GP. In the last six races before the Belgian GP, Antonelli retired from the races at Imola, Catalunya, the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone, finished P18 at Monaco and had a podium finish at the Canadian GP.

The weekend at Spa Francorchamps was another tough one for Antonelli, who was eliminated in the SQ1 on Friday, finished the Sprint in P17, and was again eliminated in the first qualifying session for the main race.

The Mercedes driver was almost in tears as he arrived in the media pen after qualifying at the 2025 Belgian GP. Kimi Antonelli said in his interview that a lack of confidence at the Spa Francorchamps led to his subpar performance in qualifying.

Well-known photographer Kym Illman later came out and detailed that Lewis Hamilton visited the Mercedes hospitality area on the morning of the main race at Spa Francorchamps, suggesting that the Ferrari driver went to meet Kimi Antonelli amid his recent tough luck.

Hamilton was asked about the same after the Belgian GP, and the Ferrari driver refuted the claims.

The reporter asked, “Did you visit the Mercedes hospitality to go to Kimi Antonelli? He was in front of the camera yesterday, he had a tough time.” “ No. I didn't go to see Kimi. I went to see my old team, to say hi to them.”

Kimi Antonelli finished the Belgian GP in P16 after starting the race from the pitlane. Lewis Hamilton also started from the pitlane, but made early moves, right strategy calls and finished P7.

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When Kimi Antonelli detailed Lewis Hamilton's help ahead of his F1 debut

Kimi Antonelli was signed as Lewis Hamilton's replacement as the Brit decided to make a move to the Maranello-based team. Before leaving the Silver Arrows, Hamilton wrote a message for Antonelli in the driver's room.

Ahead of Antonelli’s F1 debut at the Australian GP, the Italian detailed how Hamilton had been a great help to him, as he said (via Fomula 1's official website):

“Lewis has always been nice to me, and also giving me some advice. I think you wrote a message in the drivers’ room, so I'm going to be able to see it pretty soon. He's always been really nice to me, and I'm really, really grateful for that because it shows that he's not only a great driver but also a great person.”

Kimi Antonelli currently sits 7th in the Drivers' championship with 63 points to his name. His teammate George Russell has more than double his points tally at 157 points, including the race win at Canada.

Edited by Luke Koshi