F1 star Kimi Antonelli back in the driving seat at Mercedes

Antonelli during test with 2021 car — Photo: © IMAGO

Mercedes

Kimi Antonelli back in the driving seat at Mercedes

Kimi Antonelli has recently signed a new contract at Mercedes

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 14 January 2026 11:55

Mercedes F1 star Kimi Antonelli is back in a Mercedes car ahead of the 2026 season.

The Italian teenager is set for his sophomore season in F1, having been given a new contract off the back of his rookie year in the sport in 2025.

That rookie year was an impressive one, securing seventh in the drivers' championship and claiming his first three podiums in the sport.

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Barring a midseason lull in which he only managed to score points at three of 10 race weekends, the Italian impressed his team, and proved a capable understudy to the outfit's star driver George Russell.

Russell and Antonelli are both hoping that their team will be able to provide them with a car capable of challenging for more regular race victories in 2026, with new regulations sweeping into F1.

Mercedes are rumoured to be best placed to master those regulation changes, just as they did back in 2014 when the hybrid era was heralded into F1.

Now, ahead of what could be a very exciting season for the Italian, Antonelli has been videoed at his seat fitting, trying the new W17 on for size and joking around with his engineers in the process.

Antonelli could be heard in the Mercedes YouTube video saying: "It feels a bit tighter than the other car," supposedly a nod to the smaller, narrower F1 cars that will be present in F1 from next season.

2026 car design changes

While power units are seeing extensive changes to have a greater emphasis on electrical energy in 2026, arguably the bigger changes can be seen in the actual design of the cars.

Cars will be lighter by 30kg in 2026, the wheelbase will be reduced by 20cm and the car width will be reduced by 10cm.

The maximum floor width will also be reduced by 15cm, while the width of the front tyres will be decreased by 2.5cm and the rears by 3cm. Pirelli and the F1 grid recently tested the new tyres on mule cars during the post-season tyre test in Abu Dhabi.

F1 front wings will be 10cm narrower and will feature a two element active flap. The rear wing will then have a three element flap and the lower beam wing has been removed.

The removal of this is key, to ensure that a following car will encounter less turbulence or 'dirty air', a major impediment to overtaking this past year.

Downforce has been reduced by 30 per cent and drag by 55 per cent, but the name on everybody's lips is 'active aerodynamics'.

From 2026 two aero modes will feature, straight mode and corner mode, which is known as active aerodynamics.

Straight mode is when the front and rear wing flaps open to reduce overall drag and increases top speed, which will be made available to all drivers.

Corner mode - you guessed it - takes place at the corners, where the front and rear wing flaps close which increases downforce and therefore cornering speeds.

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