A year ago, on the Melbourne circuit, the Formula 1 adventure of Andrea Kimi Antonelli officially began, then as now the only Italian driver on the starting grid. In a rookie year, the Bolognese experienced ups and downs at the wheel of the Mercedes, but on the eve of the Australian weekend, #12 presents himself with optimism, favored by the atmosphere within the Brackley team: “At the moment there is a positive atmosphere – he commented to the media – everyone is very excited to start because there is a new regulation, a new opportunity, and it seems we are in a good position. Of course, it is very difficult to know everyone’s real pace because in testing you never know what program the other teams are following, but we are satisfied with the work we have done, and the car seems to be responding well. This is positive and we are looking forward to the weekend.”
First victory, but not only
Three times on the podium and author of a pole in the Miami Sprint qualifying, Antonelli has not yet achieved a victory in F1, with 2026 potentially proving to be the right opportunity to reach this milestone, but not only: “This is the goal. Ultimately, also fighting for the championship if possible. First we have to see where we are, as a team and also as a driver. I have to see where I am compared to the others. I have a very strong teammate and, certainly, the other drivers are also very good. It won’t be easy, but if we are competitive I think anything is possible“.
Aspects to improve
A goal that the 19-year-old therefore wants to achieve not only by exploiting the potential of the car, but also by changing the approach to races, a weak point in a phase of last year’s championship: “Coming into every weekend, you want to win, you always want to be the best. My way of thinking is to understand and try to put myself in the best possible position, so I ask myself: ‘How to win?’ What do I have to do to put myself in the best position to succeed?’ Obviously I take it one race at a time, but I think about what I have to do to be the best. It’s something I didn’t do last year and that I want to do this year because it’s a great opportunity, and it will be important to maximize every race weekend.”
W17 still to be discovered
In conclusion, Antonelli is ready to kick off a new season, despite not knowing the true potential of the new W17: “I think overall we are in a very good position – he added – the team has done a great job so far both at Brackley and Brixworth. We are in a very good position, but obviously we don’t know the true pace of the others or even our own real pace because obviously in testing we focused on understanding the car. I think it will be interesting, and that’s why I’m very excited for the weekend, because there are many questions that need to be answered and we want to find out where we really are.”
