Kimi Antonelli not at fault for poor F1 Miami GP sprint race start - Toto Wolff

The Mercedes driver's woes on lap one this year continued in the Miami GP sprint, as the F1 championship leader dropped from second to fourth

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has relieved any responsibility from Kimi Antonelli after yet another poor race start for the Formula 1 championship leader during the Miami Grand Prix sprint.

The Mercedes driver dropped from second to fourth on lap one, meaning he’s now lost 20 positions at race start across the opening three grands prix and two sprints of 2026.

Antonelli ultimately crossed the Miami finish line in fourth, but dropped to sixth post-race following a five-second track limits penalty, handing fourth to team-mate George Russell and fifth to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Read Also:

Formula 1F1 Miami GP: Lando Norris wins sprint in McLaren 1-2

It marked the first time Mercedes has failed to win this year after it didn’t bring many updates to Miami, compared to heavily upgraded cars for McLaren and Ferrari who made up the podium.

Wolff told Sky Sports: “We knew that we are a little bit out of sync with our upgrades that are coming from [the next round in] Montreal.

“But we were hoping that we'd be able to hold on now in terms of fewer lap times we do. But obviously if you have such a bad getaway, which wasn't at all Kimi's fault, it was a glitch on our side - it's difficult.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

The poor getaway came in spite of Antonelli really working hard during the April break to improve upon his lap one fortunes, which had threatened to plague his otherwise successful start to 2026 with victories in China and Japan.

Antonelli told Sky Sports: “We've been doing work over the break and on my side for once I did everything right with the procedures, so we need to check what happened.

“The grip was very low, probably lower than we expected and then after that I was really frustrated, I didn't even drive well, I did a lot of mistakes.

“I got track limits which is something that I need to avoid, but this weekend definitely has been more difficult, but was expected with everyone bringing big upgrades. We’ve just got to try to maximise the result and focus on qualifying.”

The 19-year-old now leads the championship by seven points over Russell with third-placed Charles Leclerc 20 off the top, after he completed the podium behind McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the sprint race.