Kimi Antonelli says a dramatic change in his mindset has transformed his fortunes in Formula 1, with the Mercedes driver now on the brink of a remarkable world championship triumph.
Just 12 months ago, Kimi Antonelli was struggling to find his feet in Formula 1. Now, the 20-year-old Italian is setting the pace at the front of the sport and leads Mercedes team-mate George Russell by 81 points after 14 races.
The scale of the transformation has surprised even Antonelli himself.
Speaking exclusively to BBC Sport, he recalls the first time he drove Mercedes’ 2026 car at Silverstone. Conditions were wet and cold, but within only a few laps he sensed something had changed.
“I just felt better in the car, much better than I felt last year.”
Antonelli’s rookie campaign had been marked by mistakes, tension and the lingering memory of his heavy crash during practice at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix.
He admits the incident stayed with him throughout much of 2025, creating a fear of making another costly mistake.
This year, however, he approached the season differently. Intensive preparation and work with a mental coach helped him concentrate on the task immediately ahead rather than worrying about the championship or the consequences of failure.
“The mindset has been the biggest change.”
The results have been extraordinary. Antonelli has claimed his first pole position and victories including Monaco, Monza and Spain, while repeatedly demonstrating the composure to recover from difficult situations.
Yet the young Italian insists he is still learning.
His consistency, he says, has come from establishing routines and finding a way to arrive at each race weekend mentally prepared.
“I’m still finding my way, but I’ve found a way that helps me to be consistent.”
With the championship increasingly within reach, Antonelli admits he has started thinking about becoming world champion. But his philosophy remains unchanged: focus on the next race, rather than the prize waiting at the end.
For a driver who spent much of last season trying to overcome self-doubt, that may be the biggest transformation of all.
