We rate F1 2026 title contenders - Kimi Antonelli

Filip Cleeren: Promoting Antonelli now looks like a masterstroke

If the outside world posed questions on Mercedes' decision to promote Kimi Antonelli to an F1 seat prematurely, then suddenly that move looks like a masterstroke now.

Having barely finished high school, Antonelli went through inevitable ups and plenty of downs in his maiden year. But with all that experience in the bank, which includes a maiden podium in Canada, grueling home weekends in Imola and Monza and a strong late rally, the 19-year-old Italian looks and sounds markedly more assured on the eve of his sophomore campaign. 

His 2025 debut will be invaluable experience when Mercedes actually has something to fight for beyond the odd race win.

Well, would you look at that. If pre-season testing is something to go by, that may well be the situation Mercedes finds itself in as it aims to start the new regulations era on the front foot. Alongside a strong start for the W17, Mercedes' power unit looks like it is living up to expectations of an early frontrunner.

So, what does a successful season for Antonelli look like? Given his youthful inexperience, Antonelli is still sixth on our list of title contenders - and he is down on points compared to his peers on both experience and racecraft. He is also facing an uphill battle to get the measure of his much more experienced team-mate George Russell, who has just come off a career-best season and has been desperate for a championship-winning car. But given the likelihood of random events at the start of a new rules cycle, if the car allows it Antonelli may well be a good bet to open his account of grand prix wins in 2026.

Ronald Vording: "A matter of experience"

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images

With Antonelli, it’s mainly a matter of experience. It was already clear in the junior categories that the raw talent was there – and his F1 debut season has only confirmed that impression. With the sprint pole in Miami and his first podium in Canada, he has offered clear glimpses of his potential and what’s to come.
 
Now it is up to the young Italian to become more consistent as he gains experience, essentially following the same trajectory Oscar Piastri has gone through over the past few years.
 
These aspects are reflected in the ratings. Of all the categories, pure pace should be rated the highest in my view, although compared to some colleagues I may have been slightly conservative. The other two categories leave room for improvement as Antonelli builds more F1 experience.
 
That applies to both consistency and racecraft. As for the latter, there were a few mistakes last year – for example with Max Verstappen in Austria – but he has certainly shown his potential with some brilliant moments as well. All of these values are likely to rise significantly in the coming years, as he appears to have all the ingredients to become one of F1’s future stars.

Stuart Codling: Antonelli will be closer to Russell this year

George Russell, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Mercedes AMG

Italy has been waiting 73 years for a home-grown world champion. I feel it may be waiting a little longer – but not much. Kimi Antonelli is building nicely: he's exciting to watch, quick on his day, and also shows promising signs in terms of racecraft. Whether he's ready to take on a proper world championship campaign is another matter, though.

He's clearly still learning how to get his head into the right place during a grand prix weekend – all those distractions at home events proved costly, though he learned from them. It's also quite challenging to properly assess where he is in terms of qualifying and race performances, since a whole block of races last season were lost to the rear suspension 'upgrade' which Merc subsequently consigned to the bin.

Ultimately Russell scored double the number of points Antonelli returned last season, and is demonstrably the more mature package. It's likely Kimi will be closer to his team-mate this year, but still no cigar.

Read more about Kimi Antonelli and his road to F1 through his career in pictures.

How our rating system works

To set the drivers apart, we have taken inspiration from the official F1 game to attribute scores in four different categories, out of a maximum of 100.

• Experience (EXP): An objective score simply based on the driver's experience level through total race starts
• Racecraft (RAC): The driver's ability to race wheel to wheel, either to defend a position or pull off a decisive overtake, without landing themselves in trouble with the stewards
• Consistency (CON): The driver's ability to keep clean, avoid unforced errors while being consistently quick in a race
• Pace (PAC): Reflects a driver's pace over one lap, largely in relation to their team-mate
• Overall Rating (OVR): The four above categories will be combined into an overall rating, weighted towards Pace.