Mark Blundell, the former Formula 1, IndyCar, and endurance driver, has thrown his weight behind young Kimi Antonelli, backing him to go all the way in this season’s title fight.
Antonelli has made a remarkable start to the 2026 campaign. Just 12 months ago, he was struggling to get to grips with the Mercedes W16. Now, he looks almost unstoppable. 11 rounds into the season, he’s two race wins clear at the summit–and absolutely wiping the floor with more experienced teammate George Russell.
Since suffering failures at Catalunya and Silverstone, Antonelli has bounced back brilliantly with victory at Spa and a podium at the Hungaroring. This kind of recovery and thick-skinned approach has impressed Brundell, who describes this year’s Antonelli as a “completely different driver,” ready to compete for top honours.
Speaking to GrandPrix247 via Casino Groups ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Blundell hailed the 19-year-old “wonderkid” as this season’s standout performer.
“It’s quite remarkable, and I think what he’s doing and how he’s doing it are second to none,” said Blundell. “Very mature for his age, and the way that he’s handling a Grand Prix, feeding back inside the car and understanding what’s going on is very impressive.
“Yes, he’s got a good team of people around him, but when push comes to shove for that couple of hours on Sunday afternoon, there’s only one individual behind the wheel, and delivery is his department. He’s doing a great job.”
Different style of racing helping Antonelli?
This year’s F1 regulations have been ridiculed at times (including here at GrandPrix247), but interestingly, they have forced drivers to adapt. The likes of Antonelli have taken like a duck to water. Russell on the other hand is all at sea. He has continually talked about his less aggressive driving style contributing to his woes this season.
Arguably, the push-to-pass nature of modern F1 cars also suits Antonelli. GrandPrix247’s own Paul Velasco explored this very topic, whether they’re built for the iPad generation. Asked about the “gamification” of the sport, Blundell argued that less technology and a greater emphasis on driver skill would lead to more entertaining racing.
Blundell explained: “I’ve never driven a modern F1 car, but when I look at in-car camera stuff, there’s a huge amount less feedback on the steering. There’s a lot less energy taken out across a lap.
“That gives them capability and capacity to be doing changes, you know, with those 1,000 permutations that are there from a data and performance side. So, I do feel that there’s a little bit there that just could be, as I say, toned back.
“I really would like to see a bit more human input and human error,” he added. “I think with that you’ll see some results that spring up, that maybe we would never would have looked at from the beginning of the Grand Prix.”
Blundell: It’s Antonelli’s title to lose
We’re less than halfway through the campaign, so it’s way too early to be counting chickens before they’ve hatched. But it’s hard to escape the feeling that Antonelli’s confidence is growing with every race and the momentum is on his side of the garage.
When it became clear that he’d be fighting Russell for the title, Antonelli kept talking about “raising the bar” each weekend. Earlier in the year, it felt like PR speak. Now, it sounds more like he’s staying grounded. Clearly he’s surrounded by a strong team, but the youngster is doing a great job of building on a solid Mercedes platform.
As the pressure cranks up towards the end of the season, Blundell reckons Antonelli has everything it takes to hold on to his huge championship lead and become the youngest F1 world champion in history. Blundell concluded: “Yeah, I think he’s going to win it because I think it’s his to lose now. As the confidence keeps building and he keeps getting more experience and more experience of winning, that becomes second nature to him.
“It’s going to be a tough one for anyone to approach knocking him off his perch. It’ll be great for us all to watch that and see if it happens.”
Antonelli is 50 points ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and 59 points head of George Russell. The season continues with the Dutch Grand Prix from 21-23 August, 2026.