Antonelli in Miami as leader
For the first time in his so far very short F1 career, Kimi Antonelli arrives at the paddock as the World Championship leader. In Miami, all eyes are on the Bolognese, who with two wins in the first three events has surprised insiders, teams, and even teammate George Russell, who perhaps underestimated him.
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The break probably came at the worst moment, stopping an Antonelli at 100% ambition and motivation, but the stop imposed by the war in Iran allowed the 2006-born to realize what he did between Shanghai and Suzuka. Now, even in words, you notice a Kimi much more aware of his abilities, open to the battle with Russell but who does not exclude from the fight for victory Ferrari and McLaren, which according to him will bring much bigger updates than those of Mercedes.
Antonelli’s words
“It’s very nice to return to the track where I got my first pole in the Sprint. Clearly this year will be different, the cars are different, but it will be a very interesting weekend for us: we are bringing only small updates, while others are bringing much bigger developments, this applies to Ferrari, McLaren and also Red Bull. Surely they will get closer and for us it might be necessary to work much harder, but we will do our best, keep our heads down trying to get the most out of it“, this is Antonelli’s comment at the press conference.
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One aspect to definitely improve is the start, a phase in which Antonelli has almost always struggled in 2026: “We did some start tests during the break, we worked together with the team to try to identify what the problem was. We seem to have found it, now we need to find a solution as soon as possible. It won’t be something extremely straightforward, because it requires a fairly significant change in how I move the clutch levers, on the positioning of the hands, but I’m doing my best“.
