Andrea Kimi Antonelli revealed Lewis Hamilton visited him at Mercedes to give him an uplifting pep talk ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.
Antonelli, 18, was visibly upset when he spoke to the media on Saturday afternoon after being eliminated in Q1.
The Italian teenager was promoted to Formula 1 after Hamilton's departure to Ferrari this season -- the seven-time world champion was seen leaving one of Mercedes' paddock race trucks on Sunday a few hours before the race.
"He came to say hi to the team and definitely we had a couple of words," Antonelli said of Hamilton's visit. "He was telling me to keep my head up, and that it's normal to have bad weekends, and just to keep believing. It's was really nice for me".
Antonelli had admitted his rookie season has taken a "backwards step" since his maiden F1 podium at the Canadian Grand Prix in June.
It's been a whirlwind year for the youngster, who passed his driving test earlier in the year and has spent the last few months completing his school exams on the insistence of his mother.
In joining Mercedes, he has slotted into the team Hamilton achieved the vast majority of his Formula 1 success -- his stint between 2013 and 2024 is the most decorated any one driver has had at a single team.
Hamilton, 40, endured a tough week of his own at Spa-Francorchamps and apologised to Ferrari after finishing the race seventh in a race which saw teammate Charles Leclerc claim a podium finish.
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After the race, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 how impressed he has been with what his Mercedes replacement has been doing.
"I can't imagine what it's like to be doing what he's doing," Hamilton said, a reference to Antonelli's age.
"I think he's been doing fantastic. To be thrown in the deep end at 18 is ... he didn't even have a driving licence when he first started racing, so.
"I think it's a lot on someone's shoulders and I think he's doing a great job. And he's got a great group of people around him. He's got Bono [Hamilton's former race engineer Peter Bonnington] by his side, he couldn't have had anyone better."