Formula 1 started the 2026 season with Mercedes dominance at the Australian GP, and Kimi Antonelli had plenty of reasons to celebrate after crossing the finish line in second position. The young Italian starred in a recovery race in Melbourne and helped the team achieve a historic one-two finish.
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Antonelli finished just three seconds behind George Russell after the 58 laps contested at the Albert Park circuit. The result secured Mercedes its first one-two finish without Lewis Hamilton in more than seven decades, marking an extremely positive start for the team in the category’s new era.
The Italian driver had started from second position on the starting grid, a result that was already considered impressive after the heavy crash suffered in FP3. Even so, the race started in a complicated way for the Mercedes youngster.
Right at the start, Antonelli lost several positions and fell to seventh place on the first lap. From then on, the Italian had to start a recovery race, taking advantage of the car’s good pace to gradually return to the top positions.
At the end of the race, the driver showed satisfaction with the result and highlighted the team’s performance at the start of the season. “It was the best start to the championship we could have wished for,” Antonelli said after the race.
The Italian also recognized that the start was the most difficult moment of the race for him. “Unfortunately the start was really bad. I lost many positions and had to start the recovery,” he explained.
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Despite this, the driver highlighted that Mercedes’ pace throughout the race was one of the strengths that allowed his climb through the field. “Overall, it was a good race. The pace was very strong, especially at the end,” he added.
The battle throughout the race also caught the young driver’s attention, especially in the opening laps. With the new generation of Formula 1 cars, energy management and the use of overtake modes have become important elements of the on-track battles.
According to Antonelli, these features made the first laps particularly busy in Melbourne. “The race was incredible. In the first laps, the overtakes were very strong and that brought a lot of action,” he commented.
The driver highlighted that the initial battles made the race especially fun, even with the challenges faced after the start. “It was a lot of fun at the beginning,” he said.
After the positive result in Australia, Antonelli is already turning his attention to the next stage of the championship. Formula 1 now heads to the Chinese GP, which takes place next weekend, where Mercedes will try to maintain the strong performance shown in Melbourne.
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