Mercedes’ dominant start to the 2026 Formula 1 season has not changed Kimi Antonelli’s approach for this year. Even after taking the championship lead, the Mercedes driver agreed with team principal Toto Wolff’s assessment that the competition could change significantly starting from the Miami GP.
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At the Japanese GP, Antonelli secured his second consecutive victory this year and became the youngest driver to lead the F1 drivers’ championship. The Italian is nine points ahead after three rounds, in front of his teammate George Russell, but made it clear that the focus remains on his own performance: “No, to be honest, I’m not worrying about that. I’m just going to focus on myself, on what I need to do, trying to get everything right in terms of procedures, starts, and driving. I know how strong George is, and for sure, it will be very difficult,” the young driver stated.
During the weekend in Japan, Ferrari boss Frédéric Vasseur stated that a new championship could start from Miami, highlighting the importance of scoring good points before that stage. Wolff agreed with the analysis and suggested that teams are starting to better understand the systems and extract more performance: “I think that could be the case. People have learned now, teams and drivers are starting to learn how to optimize the systems in their favor. We have already seen the first indication of this,” said the Mercedes executive.
Antonelli shares the same view and believes that the competition should become more balanced in the coming races. The Italian driver especially highlighted the expected progress of Ferrari and McLaren, indicating that the lead could become harder to maintain: “I think Ferrari and McLaren will get closer, so it will be important to keep the level high, as I said before, to keep raising the bar,” he stated. Even so, the Italian reinforced that he prefers to keep the focus on his own performance.
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“I’m not focusing on that or worrying at the moment. I’m happy with how things went today and I’m going to try to take advantage of the break to see how I can improve in those areas and come back stronger,” he concluded.
With the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs due to the war in the Middle East, Formula 1 will have no races in April. The season will only resume in May with the Miami GP, pointed out by drivers and officials as a possible turning point in the championship battle.
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