Kimi Antonelli says a January test in the 2026 Mercedes at Silverstone left him feeling like a different driver altogether. The Italian is now 14 grands prix into his second Formula 1 season. He points to that early outing and a winter working with a mental coach as the two things that changed his year.
Kimi Antonelli Credits January Test and Mental Coach for Form
Antonelli’s rookie year in 2025 was solid rather than spectacular, and he has been open about why. “I was driving very tense most of the time, I wasn’t able to extract the potential out of me,” he said, reflecting on that debut campaign.
This year has felt different from the start. “This year, it’s a lot different. The mindset has been the biggest change,” Antonelli said. He credits deliberate work over the winter for that shift.
“Plus, I did a lot of work with my mental coach,” he explained. “Trying to get my head right, my thoughts right on understanding the goal, and understanding that the most important thing is to be ready and to stay present in the moment.”
Mercedes Driver Details Silverstone Breakthrough and FP3 Recovery
The January test at Silverstone gave Antonelli his first real feel for the car that would carry him through the season. He has described it as the moment his mental reset started to show results. Getting laps in early, with a clearer head, mattered as much as anything the car itself offered.
That composure was tested hard in Australia, where he crashed heavily in FP3 at the opening round of the year. “I had a big, big crash in FP3,” Antonelli said. He praised the mechanics, who have “done an incredible job” throughout the season. On this occasion, he said, it felt like “a miracle.”
He was then able to “go back in the car and push again in the high speed and getting close to the limit.” He went on to finish second in the race itself, under three seconds behind winner and teammate George Russell.
Title Race Dynamics and Monza Recovery Context
The Australia recovery stands in sharp contrast to how Antonelli’s Mercedes career began. He crashed on his second flying lap in FP1 at Monza during the 2024 Italian Grand Prix weekend, the day before the team formally confirmed him as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement. It was about as difficult a start as a young driver could have to a defining week.
Two years on, the picture looks very different, and Nico Rosberg has offered his own warnings over the championship battle as Antonelli’s rivals search for a way back in. David Coulthard has also weighed in with comments on the Mercedes teammate dynamic, given that the man chasing Antonelli hardest is the driver alongside him in the same garage.
Championship Outlook After 14 Grands Prix
Fourteen rounds into the 2026 season, Kimi Antonelli leads Russell by 81 points in the world championship. It is a commanding gap for a driver who, by his own admission, struggled to get the best out of himself just a year ago.
Nothing is decided yet, and Antonelli has plenty of racing left before any title talk becomes realistic. The turnaround from a tense rookie season to a title-leading teammate says a lot. It reflects the mental work he put in over the winter.
Rosberg’s analysis on his title challenge context makes clear just how far Antonelli has come since that difficult Monza weekend in 2024. Antonelli’s own account of the season came in a BBC Sport interview. It sets out plainly how much of that progress has come from his mindset rather than changes to the car.
