Mercedes F1 star furious after Japanese GP

George Russell, Kimi Antonelli at the Japanese GP press conference — Photo: © IMAGO

Mercedes

Mercedes F1 star furious after Japanese GP

Kimi Antonelli has claimed back-to-back grand prix wins

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 7 April 2026 19:55

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Mercedes F1 star Kimi Antonelli has admitted that he was 'really angry' after the Japanese Grand Prix, despite claiming the race win.

19-year-old Antonelli became the youngest ever leader of the drivers' championship in Japan, after his second consecutive race victory.

The Mercedes youngster has been able to take the fight to his much more experienced team-mate George Russell so far in 2026, and the pair look certain to be in a fight for the championship, with Mercedes the dominant team in the sport.

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But Antonelli has been leaving himself a lot to do in races so far in 2026, with his poor starts becoming a theme of the early season.

Antonelli was only able to finish fifth in the Chinese GP sprint race after a poor start meant that he was squabbling with slower cars than his, while he also suffered a bad start at the season-opening Australian GP, preventing him from mounting a serious challenge for the race victory.

At the Japanese GP, Antonelli was down in sixth by the end of lap one, having started the race from pole position.

Brilliant driving from there - plus a fortunately-timed safety car - meant that Antonelli was able to come through and take the race victory, but he has now admitted that work must be done on his starts if he is to mount a serious challenge for the championship.

"Yes, I have to say that on Sunday in Japan I didn’t enjoy the victory as much as I would have liked because I was angry about the start," Antonelli told Sky Sports Italy. "I was certainly aware that I’d been very lucky despite that.

"I was pleased with how I’d managed to make the most of the opportunity and also with my race pace. But I was really angry about the start, because it was absolutely shocking - the sort of thing that makes you want to tear your hair out. I’m already working on it."

Can Ferrari catch Mercedes?

While Antonelli, Russell and Toto Wolff will be desperately hoping that Mercedes are the only team going for the two titles this year, Antonelli's ability at the starts will likely prove increasingly crucial as the season progresses.

As Antonelli recently said himself, it's only a matter of time before the likes of Ferrari and McLaren begin to close the gap to Mercedes, and he will likely find it harder and harder to re-pass those cars as the season goes on.

The Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) coupled with Mercedes' need to alter their power unit after their geometric compression ratio trick was outlawed could allow Ferrari to catch up in performance over the next few months.

Championship battles could be too much to ask for Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and co, but they will likely be in the hunt for race victories, offering a chance to get some other cars between Russell and Antonelli while they are fighting for the title.

F1 Mercedes Kimi Antonelli Japanese Grand Prix