Japanese Grand Prix winner 'angry' even in victory

Mercedes

Japanese Grand Prix winner 'angry' even in victory

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

Originally written by Sam Cook. This version is a translation.

Tuesday 7 April 2026 19:00

Mercedes F1 star Kimi Antonelli has admitted that he was 'angry' following his victory at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Mercedes youngster claimed his second successive Grand Prix victory at the Suzuka International Circuit, and became the youngest ever leader of the drivers' championship.

19-year-old Antonelli is looking likely to be in a world championship battle with team-mate George Russell, with their Mercedes team clearly the dominant force in the sport in 2026.

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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.

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