{"id":258940,"date":"2026-05-05T08:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T08:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/258940\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T08:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T08:12:20","slug":"kimi-antonelli-keeps-writing-f1-records-and-passed-his-toughest-test-in-miami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/258940\/","title":{"rendered":"Kimi Antonelli keeps writing F1 records and passed his toughest test in Miami"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. \u2014 In the days leading up to the 2026 Miami Grand Prix, Kimi Antonelli confronted questions about the pressure he faced.<\/p>\n

Italy hadn\u2019t had a Formula 1 race winner in two decades, since Giancarlo Fisichella emerged victorious in the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix, and hadn\u2019t had a repeat race winner in more than 70 years, since two-time world champion Alberto Ascari.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m aware of what\u2019s happening, but I\u2019m not trying to focus too much on that or worry,\u201d Antonelli, 19, said when asked during Thursday\u2019s news conference if he felt the burden. \u201cAt the end, it\u2019s still a very long season, a lot of races left. And I know on my side I just need to keep raising the bar. I have a super-strong teammate, George (Russell), who is super quick, very complete. And then the competitors will get closer and closer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three days later, Italy boasts a three-peat grand prix winner, as Antonelli completed a hat trick of converting pole positions to victories across the last three races. The Mercedes driver managed to fend off reigning world champion Lando Norris throughout the closing stages of the Miami GP, while seemingly battling nerves in the car.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s another test passed for Antonelli, who is only in his second F1 season. He didn\u2019t nail the start (a recurring issue this season) and needed to fight back for the lead \u2014 and then avoid mistakes when defending.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s the first F1 driver ever to consecutively win their first three races from their first three pole positions. And he leads the championship with 100 points after a 28-point haul in Miami.<\/p>\n

\u201cKimi, that was really impressive,\u201d team principal Toto Wolff said over the radio. \u201cVery impressive, from the beginning to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

He commented on the starts before adding, \u201cYour driving, that was really good. And you know I like to complain, but there\u2019s nothing to complain (about) today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kimi<\/p>\n

\n Kimi Antonelli had the reigning champion on his tail in the second half of the race. (Rudy Carezzevoli \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Antonelli described his race as one that \u201chad a bit of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sport was coming off a five-week break due to the Iran War, which led to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs. Yet, Antonelli picked up where he left off. McLaren\u2019s Norris may have secured pole and the sprint victory, but the Mercedes driver was able to recover Saturday. His first flying lap in Q3 was enough to seal that prime starting spot, but there was one major obstacle that faced him \u2014 the race start.<\/p>\n

Antonelli has struggled to get off the line well this season, losing out multiple spots at a time. And Sunday was no different.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be fair, it was not as bad,\u201d he said with a smile, looking up as he counted. \u201cI think I lost two places. Sprint, I lost six, so a little bit better, but still, it\u2019s not acceptable. Especially in a weekend like this, where the gaps are a lot closer, it can really change the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Wolff and Antonelli discussed grip level at the start. The driver said, \u201cThe grip level that we thought there was was just not there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wolff said during his media session that Saturday and Sunday were \u201ca team mistake,\u201d adding, \u201cWe\u2019re not doing a good enough job in giving them a tool in their hands\u201d and that they need to \u201cdig even deeper and to try to understand how we can fix that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, Mercedes is leading the championship by 68 points.<\/p>\n

Antonelli, though, admitted his confidence just isn\u2019t there yet, noting how he\u2019s been a bit inconsistent. But he does feel he handled it better emotionally. The poor sprint race start frustrated him, but with Sunday\u2019s start, he said, \u201cI just kept it a bit cool, a bit better, and just managed to move on and focus about the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kimi<\/p>\n

\n Kimi Antonelli admitted feeling stressed during the race. (Rudy Carezzevoli \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

As the grid barrelled down toward Turn 1, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Antonelli nearly went three-wide, and the Mercedes driver went off the track to avoid contact. When he rejoined, Verstappen spun, and Antonelli zipped past, setting his sights on Leclerc.<\/p>\n

The Mercedes driver largely battled Leclerc and Norris throughout the race, whether it be attacking or defending. Antonelli passed Norris on Lap 28 and definitively took the lead a lap later from Verstappen. But Norris wasn\u2019t far behind, plucking off the Dutchman before focusing on Antonelli.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very stressful because he was also sometimes on the edge of getting (it) so many times, the overtake mode,\u201d Antonelli said about having Norris behind him. \u201cWe know how powerful that is, and I just knew I couldn\u2019t make any mistakes. And it was not easy because the conditions were tricky today, with the rain that kind of cleaned a bit the rubber that was on track, and it was very slippery.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Lap 33, Antonelli reported a gearbox-related issue, but he said post-race that it only lasted a few laps, but it added stress. When listening to his team radio, you could hear the edge in his voice. On Lap 37, he reported that his rear tires were gone, but race engineer Peter Bonnington, who used to be Lewis Hamilton\u2019s engineer at Mercedes, calmly reminded him that \u201cit\u2019s just temp,\u201d meaning the tires were okay.<\/p>\n

Bonnington guided him on how to do better exits at corners over the next several laps, and by Lap 40, Antonelli appeared to have calmed down.<\/p>\n

\u201cBono has learned from the greats, from (Michael) Schumacher to Hamilton for many years, then now to Kimi, and he\u2019s been a good mentor to him, but also a strong boss,\u201d Wolff explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a few times today when (Antonelli) had two strikes with the track limits, I said to Bono, \u2018One more, and I\u2019m going to go on the radio.\u2019 He said, \u2018No, no, you leave that to me,\u2019 and that shows \u2026 he just knows how to handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kimi<\/p>\n

\n Kimi Antonelli fended off the reigning constructor champion drivers Sunday. (Rudy Carezzevoli \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Antonelli wore his heart on his sleeve as he crossed the finish line, expressing his enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

He jumped over the barriers in parc ferme to celebrate with the Mercedes team members before going to hug his parents and sister. And as he took off his helmet and balaclava, multiple drivers \u2014 including Verstappen, Franco Colapinto and both Cadillac drivers \u2014 came up to hug him.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a significant feat in just his second F1 season. Verstappen only won one race in his second F1 season, though that was his first with Red Bull. Leclerc only won two in his second campaign (his first with Ferrari). And the only drivers to take their first three wins consecutively are Damon Hill (who did it in his second season), Mika H\u00e4kkinen and Antonelli.<\/p>\n

And it comes in a year when his teammate, Russell, was anticipated to be the championship favorite by the bookies. Twenty points separate the Mercedes teammates after the race weekend, and Antonelli didn\u2019t expect to be here, even if it\u2019s still early in the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re living such a good moment. But as I said before, it\u2019s still a very long season, and there\u2019s so many things that can change,\u201d Antonelli said. \u201cGeorge for sure is going to be super strong in Canada; he\u2019s always been very strong there, so he\u2019s for sure going to be back at the top.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think I feel much more comfortable in the car, much more in control as well. And I think we\u2019re just going to keep trying our best. I\u2019m going to try to maximize every time I go on track.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antonelli is riding a high, with three wins, four podiums and three poles under his belt to start the year. He\u2019s recovering from mistakes that are made, whether it be his own or a potential team issue. Wolff said the easy part with Antonelli is ensuring both of his feet stay on the ground, while \u201cthe bigger problem is the Italian public\u201d and containing that pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look throughout his trajectory, in karting and in the junior formulas, he was just outstanding,\u201d Wolff said when talking about Antonelli\u2019s development. \u201cWhen you think about what we said last year, it\u2019s exactly how he\u2019s performed and how he\u2019s developed. We have these great ups and moments of brilliance, and then moments where he was allowed to make mistakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe needed to calibrate and continue to enter him while standing pressure on him. But he just takes it so well.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still early for Antonelli \u2014 both this season and in his F1 career. There are still 18 races to go. But Wolff pointed out that given how the season and his career have progressed thus far, \u201csuch a success for such a young man at that stage, all of Italy will be on him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. \u2014 In the days leading up to the 2026 Miami Grand Prix, Kimi Antonelli confronted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[31514,123,125,124,47257],"class_list":["post-258940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-formula-1","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-motorsports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}