Both Hamilton and Antonelli made costly mistakes at Spa, with each driver unable to get out of Q1 in qualifying for the sprint and the main race.
While Hamilton managed to fight his way back into the top 10 and claim seventh place during the Belgian GP, Antonelli was unable to make much progress in the race and finished a lowly P16.
On Sunday prior to the race, F1 photographer and paddock insider Kym Illman spotted Hamilton in the Mercedes motorhome, where he revealed on Instagram that the seven-time world champion had consoled the youngster.
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes Engineering motorhome but he was there a few minutes ago,” Illman wrote.
“Why? It’s believed he caught up with Kimi Antonelli to give him some support after the Mercedes rookie’s tricky qualifying yesterday when Kimi appeared teary-eyed after the session.”
Hamilton consoles Antonelli
Antonelli has failed to score points in the past three grands prix, after achieving his maiden F1 podium at the Canadian GP.
However, Hamilton has remained supportive of the youngster in his post-race interview with Sky Sports’ Craig Slater.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like at 18, to do what he’s doing,” Hamilton said.
“I think he’s been doing fantastic, but to be thrown in the deep end at 18, he hadn’t even had his driving licence when he first started racing!”
Hamilton then laughed in disbelief and was clearly in awe of everything Antonelli has achieved thus far.
“I think it’s a lot on someone’s shoulders and I think he’s done a great job,” he continued.
“And he’s got a great group of people around him so I think he’s just got to take it in his stride. He has Bono by his side, he couldn’t have anyone better.”
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