Kimi Antonelli has shown strength in Formula 1 in 2026, which has impressed, but not left so surprised, Mercedes, as pointed out by Bradley Lord.
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The young Italian is in only his second year on the grid, but already leads the championship with a 50-point advantage over Lewis Hamilton and 59 over teammate George Russell. In 11 rounds, he has won six and stood on the podium nine times, only finishing outside the points twice.
When asked by GPblog if Antonelli has surprised Mercedes, Lord replied, “Are we surprised? Yes and no. We decided to bring Kimi to the team because we believed in his potential, but I also think it’s undeniable that seeing a driver, in only his second season in Formula 1, perform with such consistency and real, calm maturity is incredibly impressive.”
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“That difficult first season ended up being divided, in a way, into three parts: a strong start, a complicated middle, and then the process of figuring out what was needed to overcome that low phase and achieve good races at the end of the year,” he continued.
“It’s almost as if he managed to accumulate the learning of several seasons in just one, consolidating all of that during the off-season period,” he added.
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