Kimi Antonelli confirmed that Mercedes abandoned the one-stop strategy during the Hungarian GP, held last Sunday (26) at the Hungaroring, due to safety concerns over the 70 laps of the race. Despite the change of plan, the Italian praised the team’s work after securing third place in Budapest, earning his ninth podium of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
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“But other than that, it was a great team effort,” added the championship leader. “Also in strategy, we took a risk at the start and then backed off a bit because we were concerned about safety. But even so, they put me in a position to fight, in the end, for the podium. So, it was a great team effort.”
After starting seventh due to a three-place grid penalty, Antonelli began the race with an alternative strategy, similar to the one that led Lando Norris to victory on the Hungarian track last year. The tactic put him in contention for second place, but Mercedes called him to the pits on lap 54 due to tire wear.
Two laps later, the virtual safety car caused by Oscar Piastri’s problem changed the race scenario. Antonelli lost position to Max Verstappen but managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton to secure third place and complete the podium. The driver assessed that Mercedes extracted the maximum possible from the weekend:
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“I think today we maximized the result,” he said. “Obviously, we got a bit lucky with the VSC — because of Oscar’s problem. But other than that, we did the best we could. The conditions were quite difficult today, I struggled a bit with oversteer, balance, and then understeer. So, yes, the conditions were not easy today, but I am happy with the result.”
With the result, Antonelli extended his lead over Lewis Hamilton and teammate George Russell in the Formula 1 standings to 50 and 69 points, respectively.
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