Kimi Antonelli identifies area for improvement amid F1 title fight

The Mercedes driver took the F1 championship lead by winning the Japanese GP on Sunday, but he feels there is still an area he must improve upon

Kimi Antonelli believes his poor start to the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix was ‘completely his fault’ as the polesitter caught too much wheelspin off the line.

The Mercedes driver consequently dropped to sixth on the opening lap at Suzuka, though he still ultimately claimed victory having lucked out with the lap 23 safety car intervention.

It gave Antonelli his second consecutive victory meaning he is now leading the F1 championship, despite race starts being a continuous problem for him in 2026.

At the Melbourne opener he dropped from second to seventh, in the Shanghai sprint he went from second to eighth, while the following day he lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton.

Speaking after the Japan win, he said: “It was nice to be back on the top step. A very special win and a very special track. But, on one side I’m very happy, on the other side I’m a bit disappointed with how the start went.

“It’s an area where I need to work a lot, because it’s definitely not good enough and I’m just making my life a lot harder. So, definitely a lot of work to do still.

“But I was very lucky, of course, with the timing of the safety car, but yeah, then pace was very, very strong and really happy with that.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Artur Widak / NurPhoto via Getty Images

It does come amid changes to the race start procedure though, as reacting to lights out has become more complex under the new 2026 regulations following the removal of the MGU-H.

This means drivers must rev their engines much higher for at least 10 seconds to spool up the turbo, while also maintaining battery power due to the more electrical engines.

When asked what caused his wheelspin at Suzuka, Antonelli said: “I think I dropped the clutch a bit too deep, deeper than what I should have.

“The tyres were also a bit colder, so obviously I went beyond the grip that was available and just lost a lot of places.”

The 19-year-old therefore confirmed that it was “completely my fault”, but Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was keen to not place all the blame at Antonelli’s door.

“A botched start. These kids learn in the driving school with automatics, so we need to teach them how you release a clutch slowly, steadily and not too quick,” he jokingly told Sky Sports.

Toto Wolff, Mercedes

Photo by: Kym Illman / Getty Images

“But then he was fast. We’re not giving them the easiest of tools, our starts have generally been a bit on the mediocre side and we need to improve that.

“In that case, the drive had massive influence of that car not going away. Looked good with the wheelspin, but isn’t fast.”

Race start problems aren’t just unique to Antonelli either, as team-mate George Russell has lost five positions - 13 fewer than Antonelli - on lap one in 2026.