Kimi Antonelli stated that he did not imagine experiencing such a remarkable recovery one year after facing one of the most difficult moments of his career in Formula 1. The Mercedes driver recalled the challenging 2025 Belgian GP and celebrated the transformation at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit.
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In his debut for Mercedes, Antonelli started the season positively, scoring points in five of the first six races after taking the place left by Lewis Hamilton, who moved to Ferrari. However, during the European phase of the calendar, the results fluctuated. In Belgium, the Italian had a difficult weekend, not passing Q1 and finishing the race in 16th place. The performance generated criticism and questions about his stay in the team led by Toto Wolff.
One year later, the story changed completely. Antonelli dominated Spa-Francorchamps, secured his sixth win of the season, and started from the sixth pole position of the year, extending his championship lead to 45 points, with Hamilton as the main pursuer.
“No, absolutely not,” Antonelli replied when asked if he could foresee this turnaround. “Last year here, I probably hit rock bottom. It was a very difficult weekend for me mentally. But this year was definitely much better. If you had asked me last year, at this moment, I probably would have said no,” he stated.
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“It was a very competitive race,” said the young Italian. “The pace was much higher than in practice, and it wasn’t easy because Max, in the first stint, was staying close and, obviously, Charles also had a great pace with the hard tires.”
Antonelli also highlighted the importance of strategy and energy management during the race: “It wasn’t easy because there was also a big difference in energy management among all the teams. Also, we were strong in certain parts of the track but weak in others. So, it definitely wasn’t a simple race, but I’m very happy with it,” he added.
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