{"id":2318,"date":"2026-09-16T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=2318"},"modified":"2026-09-15T10:42:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T13:42:03","slug":"antonelli-is-dominating-f1-but-one-habit-still-frustrates-mercedes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/antonelli-is-dominating-f1-but-one-habit-still-frustrates-mercedes\/","title":{"rendered":"Antonelli is dominating F1 \u2014 but one habit still frustrates Mercedes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Kimi Antonelli leads the 2026 F1 championship by 81 points after winning the Spanish GP<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mercedes says Antonelli&#8217;s tendency to be overly self-critical is one of the few things that still frustrates the team<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Italian has repeatedly responded to difficult weekends with some of his strongest performances of the season<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kimi Antonelli has spent 2026 dismantling many of the doubts that followed him into Formula 1. There is, however, one habit Mercedes would still like its championship leader to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Antonelli can be too hard on himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mercedes communications director Bradley Lord identified the Italian&#8217;s self-criticism as one of the few traits that can still frustrate those around him, particularly when Antonelli believes he has made a mistake or failed to extract everything from the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The only thing that sometimes annoys me about Kimi is how hard he is on himself,&#8221; Lord said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The message Mercedes continues trying to reinforce is simple: a bad session or weekend should not become something bigger in Antonelli&#8217;s own mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We have to keep hammering it into his head that he&#8217;s doing an extraordinary job,&#8221; Lord added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is an unusual concern to have about a driver currently controlling the Formula 1 World Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-06-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"F1 2026, ESPANHA, CORRIDA, MERCEDES, KIMI ANTONELLI\" class=\"wp-image-1020315140\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-06-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-06-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-06-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-06-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-06-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-06.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mercedes identifies Antonelli&#8217;s weakness despite dominant 2026 F1 season (Photo: Mercedes)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Antonelli keeps responding to adversity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Antonelli&#8217;s numbers make Mercedes&#8217; point particularly striking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 20-year-old has won eight of the opening 14 Grands Prix and leads team-mate George Russell by <strong>81 points<\/strong>, 292 to 211. His latest victory came at Madring, where a well-timed Virtual Safety Car helped him capitalise on Lando Norris&#8217; misfortune and win the inaugural Spanish GP in Madrid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It followed an even more remarkable performance at Monza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Antonelli started his home race from 19th after taking a power-unit penalty but recovered through the field to win, becoming the first Italian to triumph at Monza since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those performances are particularly relevant to Mercedes&#8217; assessment because Antonelli&#8217;s response to difficult moments has become one of the defining features of his season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When circumstances have gone against him, the reaction has rarely lasted long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His ability to reset is also one reason the championship has increasingly moved away from Russell. The more experienced Mercedes driver began 2026 as a natural title favourite but now admits that <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/antonelli-extends-f1-championship-lead-to-81-points-after-spanish-gp-win\/\">overcoming Antonelli&#8217;s advantage will be extremely difficult<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mercedes still sees a driver learning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The extraordinary results can make it easy to forget Antonelli&#8217;s age and experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He only turned 20 in August and is competing in his second Formula 1 season. Mercedes therefore continues to treat his development separately from what the championship table suggests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lord believes Antonelli&#8217;s tendency to analyse himself critically is partly what drives his improvement. Mercedes does not want to eliminate that quality, only prevent it from becoming counterproductive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That distinction matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Self-analysis can help explain why Antonelli has progressed so quickly, but excessive criticism can make an isolated mistake feel more significant than it actually is. Mercedes&#8217; job is increasingly to help him preserve the former without allowing the latter to affect his confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The evidence from 2026 suggests that balance is working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Antonelli has already <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/antonelli-equals-russells-f1-win-tally-with-italian-gp-triumph\/\">matched Russell&#8217;s career total of Formula 1 victories<\/a> and now has a realistic opportunity to become world champion in only his second season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The question is no longer whether he can handle the pressure of fighting at the front. It is how quickly the championship can be decided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> follows the championship throughout the season, with complete news, analysis and results available in the <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/\">Formula 1 section<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Antonelli can start thinking about the title<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Madrid significantly changed the championship mathematics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With nine Grands Prix remaining, Antonelli has 292 points to Russell&#8217;s 211. Lewis Hamilton is third on 191, while Norris sits fourth with 186.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That means Antonelli has reached the stage where <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/what-does-antonelli-need-to-become-2026-f1-champion\/\">his path towards becoming the 2026 F1 world champion can already be calculated<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mercedes, however, is still dealing with him as a young driver in development rather than a finished product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps that is the most revealing part of Lord&#8217;s criticism. Mercedes&#8217; frustration is not that Antonelli lacks speed, consistency or the ability to win under pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is that, even while producing one of the most remarkable sophomore seasons in F1 history, Antonelli sometimes still needs convincing that what he is doing is good enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does Mercedes want Kimi Antonelli to improve?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mercedes believes Antonelli can be too critical of his own performances. The team wants him to maintain his analytical approach without being excessively hard on himself when a session or race does not go as planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How many races has Antonelli won in F1 in 2026?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Antonelli has won eight of the first 14 Grands Prix of the 2026 season, including the Italian and Spanish GPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How big is Antonelli&#8217;s F1 championship lead?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Antonelli leads the 2026 Drivers&#8217; Championship with 292 points, 81 ahead of Mercedes team-mate George Russell after the Spanish GP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kimi Antonelli has eight wins and an 81-point F1 championship lead, but Mercedes says there is still one trait it wants its 20-year-old star to change: being too hard on himself when things go wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1001096684,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Mercedes reveals the one Antonelli trait that still causes frustration","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Rodrigo Ruiz\/Grande Pr\u00eamio","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[19,45,17,314,16,116],"42wp_author":[13],"class_list":["post-2318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-andrea-kimi-antonelli","tag-f1","tag-george-russell","tag-kimi-antonelli","tag-mercedes","tag-toto-wolff","42wp_author-luana-marino"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2318"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2319,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2318\/revisions\/2319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1001096684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2318"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=2318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}