Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was critical of Kimi Antonelli's Italian Grand Prix performance, as the rookie finished ninth after earning a penalty for an incident with Williams' Alex Albon.
Antonelli qualified seventh but started from sixth after the man he replaced at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, dropped five grid positions for a penalty he earned at the Dutch Grand Prix.
But the 19-year-old Italian had a bad start, dropping several places, after which he could not recover, not to mention that he beached his car in practice on Friday, missing the whole session.
And while Wolff has been supportive of his young driver, he adopted a different approach following Monza and told the media: "You can’t put the car in the gravel bed [on Friday] and expect to be there.
"All of the race was underwhelming," the Austrian stated before adding on ServusTV: "What he needs now is simply to deliver a solid weekend.
"The weekend began badly for him when he went off into the gravel. Unfortunate, like in Zandvoort. In Baku he needs to deliver a clean weekend. There will be less pressure there. It’s a track he knows," Wolff pointed out.
However, and despite the harsh words, Wolff is adamant Antonelli is a bright talent for the future and vowed to continue supporting him.
He said that his criticism "doesn’t change anything on my support and confidence in his future. Because I believe he’s going to be very, very, very good.
"But today was underwhelming," the Mercedes boss reiterated in conclusion.
Antonelli has shown some early promise in his rookie Formula 1 season, but his performance seems to have dropped lately as he also has to deal with a high benchmark in the form of George Russell, who has taken over the role of team leader after Hamilton's departure.
He has come under much criticism recently from several F1 pundits, but it is the first time Wolff delivers such statements about him.
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