Kimi Antonelli: ‘It’s too early to think about the championship’

• Kimi Antonelli won the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka to claim his second Formula 1 victory, taking the championship lead in the process.
• The Italian made a poor start from pole and dropped to sixth by the end of lap one, before the Safety Car effectively reset the race in his favor and his pace on both the Medium and Hard compounds proved decisive.
• Antonelli acknowledged a poor start as an ongoing weakness, said he felt a clear gap to teammate George Russell in qualifying, and warned that he expects the championship fight to tighten as Ferrari and McLaren close in.

Kimi Antonelli Wins in Japan to Lead Championship but Flags Start Problems

Kimi Antonelli left Suzuka with the Formula 1 championship lead, a second race win, and a significant problem still to solve. The start from pole position that should have defined his afternoon went wrong before the first corner, and he spent much of lap one fighting back through traffic while the race he had built in qualifying unraveled around him.

On the podium, Antonelli gave a direct account of how the afternoon felt from his perspective. “It feels pretty good,” he said. “Of course, it’s too early to think about the championship, but we’re on the good way. I mean, in the race, I had a terrible start. Just need to check what happened. But then I was lucky with the Safety Car to be in the lead. But then the pace was just incredible and, you know, it was a really nice second stint. I felt very good with the car and very pleased with that.”

In the press conference, he expanded on the mechanics of what went wrong off the line. “I think I dropped the clutch a bit too deep, deeper than what I should have, and obviously the tyres were also a bit colder, so obviously I went beyond the grip that was available and just lost a lot of places.” Asked what was going through his mind when he found himself sixth at the end of lap one, he kept it short. “I cannot say, but I was very mad.”

The question of whether the win was still on from that position drew an honest answer. Running behind Charles Leclerc on a different deployment cycle, Antonelli found the SF-25 difficult to pass. “I think it was a bit difficult to get by when I was behind Charles because we obviously had two completely different deployments and it was just hard to find the right place to overtake. Then he went back in the pit and then we improved a lot with the pace. And then obviously I was lucky with the Safety Car. But without the Safety Car, I don’t know how the outcome would have been. Definitely would have been a lot more difficult, but you never know.”

The win made Antonelli the first Italian driver to win back-to-back races since Alberto Ascari, and it put him at the top of the drivers’ standings. He was careful not to let the historical context shift his focus. “I don’t know. I think we’ll find out pretty soon. But yeah, I’m not thinking too much about the championship. Of course it’s great, but it’s still a long way to go and need to keep raising the bar because, you know, George is very quick and for sure he’s going to be back at his usual level, and also competitors eventually they will get closer. I think we need to keep our head down and keep raising the bar.”

Asked whether the start issue was the one area he wanted the team to focus on during the five-week break before Miami, Antonelli was candid about the wider picture at Mercedes. “Difficult. I think our car is very good. For sure, maybe with the start, but I think… I mean, today was completely my fault. But together, me and George, we’ve been struggling a bit more than what we would have anticipated since the start of the season, and today the McLaren got a really good start, so they’re clearly doing something better, for sure also on driver input. In this case Oscar did much better than me because… I cannot say, but I ‘effed’ it up pretty badly. But yeah, I just need to keep working on that area.”

The championship lead does not appear to have changed Antonelli’s approach to the rivalry with Russell. Asked directly whether the internal battle could become tense, he was dismissive of the premise. “No, I’m not worrying about that, to be fair. I’m just going to focus on myself, on what I need to do, trying to get everything right in terms of procedure, starts, driving. I know how strong George is and for sure it’s going to be very hard.” He added that the external threat from Ferrari and McLaren would require Mercedes to keep raising their own level. “I think Ferrari and McLaren, they will get closer, so it’s going to be important to stay on top of the game, as I said before, keep raising the bar. But I’m not focusing on or worrying about this at the moment.”

Reflecting on the step up he has taken between his rookie season and this year, Antonelli pointed to experience as the defining factor. “Big step. Experience does a lot. Obviously last year I’ve gone through a lot and it taught me massively more than what I anticipated, and for sure it’s helping so far this year. Of course there’s still a lot of work to do, but I definitely feel much more in control of the situation.” He acknowledged that the car has played a part, and said the opportunity in front of him is not lost on him. “Of course, as you said, the car helps, and I’m going to try to be ready and everything because it’s one of those opportunities that don’t happen every day. So obviously, yeah, really, really grateful with the car that the team has provided us so far, and yeah, I just need to keep my head down.”

On the qualifying gap to Russell specifically, Antonelli acknowledged it remains real. “I think still in qualifying he has the upper hand, especially when it comes to Q3. He’s always able to find that little bit of extra, which I’m working on. But in terms of race pace, I think we have a really strong base.” He offered one structural reason why the gap has narrowed overall. “For sure it helps that everyone started from zero. For sure it still helps, you know. But definitely I’ve been closing the gap with him.” The respect for his teammate was clear. “I feel he’s obviously a super, super strong, very complete driver. I think he showed many times last year, and that’s why it’s not going to be easy, and that’s why I need to do everything as perfect as possible.”

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