(Motorsport-Total.com) – Dear readers,
who still remembers Kimi Antonelli’s performance in 2025 at Spa-Francorchamps?
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Twelve months ago, he spun in the sprint qualifying, started last and finished the sprint in 17th – only ahead of Nico Hülkenberg in the Sauber and the two Alpines (the Aston Martin from the previous year, so to speak). In the qualifying for the Grand Prix, he simply lacked the pace and was eliminated in Q1. (Retrieve all results from Spa 2025 here!)
In the normal course of a Formula 1 weekend, drivers go directly to the media zone after their session to answer questions from TV teams and journalists. Antonelli, however, was the last driver to appear there back then – even though he was among the first to be eliminated.
Blinking repeatedly and trying not to shed more tears, he spoke about his lack of confidence in the car and a difficult phase. Spa was just one of several disappointing weekends that summer. After this Belgian Grand Prix, voices grew particularly loud claiming Antonelli was not yet ready for Formula 1.
Twelve months later, Antonelli seems like an unstoppable force of nature.
Where Antonelli has lost points so far
This time too, he traveled to Spa after a difficult phase. The difference: this time it was not his own mistakes but technical defects. (Photo series: Where Antonelli lost the most points in the 2026 World Championship battle)
Where Kimi Antonelli lost the most points in the 2026 World Championship battle
In Barcelona, he lost a probable second place, in Silverstone possibly even the win. Nevertheless, despite these two zero scores, he arrived at Spa with a 25-point lead over George Russell.
How Antonelli evaluates his own performance
The voices had also changed: In the press conference on Thursday, Antonelli was asked to evaluate his season so far. The question itself said more about his performance than the actual answer:
“Would you rate your season so far with 10 out of 10 points – as modest and self-critical as we have come to know you? And if not: why not?”
Antonelli is indeed modest and self-critical. Therefore, he listed in detail everything that, from his point of view, was not perfect: the crash in practice in Melbourne, the weak start in Japan, the track limits penalty in the Miami sprint that cost him points, and even his qualifying sessions in Barcelona and Austria, where he finished third and second respectively, but still did not consider them satisfactory.
As modest and self-critical as he is – he could not rate his season worse than an 8.
World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli: It hardly gets better
After Spa, he will probably have to raise this assessment. Because on that track, which had given him one of the low points of his career just a year ago, he could hardly have done anything better.
There is this old cliché that top athletes like to use: bad luck doesn’t really exist. Usually, they say this just before listing the occasions when they actually had bad luck. What is meant, however, is that exceptional athletes can ultimately still make the difference.
Antonelli’s Spa weekend – as well as his season so far – is the perfect example that in the end nothing can stop the best driver.
Everything pointed to victory at the Belgian Grand Prix
On Friday, he was the fastest, then he secured pole position confidently. Even something as trivial as an unfavorably triggered virtual safety car could ultimately not change that.
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Valtteri Bottas even unintentionally did Antonelli a small favor when he held up Charles Leclerc. But the few tenths of a second the Monegasque lost behind the Cadillac hardly justify the entire dinner that Bottas jokingly demanded from Kimi afterwards as compensation. At most, it would have been enough for a good Belgian beer. A small one.
Antonelli simply would not lose this race. He used his first real opportunity to regain the lead that his pace actually entitled him to.
The fastest car alone is not enough
It is also remarkable that this victory was mainly Antonelli’s own merit. Of course, he still drives the best car on the grid. But the race was much more difficult than many had expected. Ferrari – and at times even Red Bull – could keep up with his pace. Not enough to seriously threaten him, but certainly enough to keep constant pressure on him.
This victory demanded absolute top performance from the Italian from start to finish. And it can be said with good reason that the Antonelli of 2025 probably would not have even fought for this success.
It is not just that Mercedes has the fastest car this year. The decisive factor is the combination of car and driver, which has set the standard in most races.
Could Antonelli have won all previous races?
Purely in terms of speed, Antonelli could have won almost every race this season. In Barcelona, he was fast enough to challenge Lewis Hamilton, in Austria he was ultimately the fastest driver on Sunday, and in Silverstone it would have been extremely difficult for Charles Leclerc to keep him behind in the final laps.
With a bit more racing luck, his winning streak could even have stretched back to the Chinese Grand Prix. Instead – because bad luck has followed him more often than most others – his lead in the World Championship is “only” 45 points. Not a bad interim result for a 19-year-old.
What Toto Wolff says about Kimi Antonelli
“We are all surprised,” Toto Wolff said on Sunday evening in his media round about his driver. “I think the first season went exactly as expected. There were great moments when his talent flashed, but also very difficult phases – especially this longer dry spell without good results. That was all expected.”
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“After winter, his development also went as we expected. He now knew the environment, the pressure, the team’s technical requirements, the marketing appointments, and also the tracks we would race on.”
“But what no one had expected was the calm and structure he brought to his work. Whether a session went well or badly – in the debriefings, there was practically no emotional difference to be seen in Kimi.”
“He works completely objectively: ‘Where is the problem? How do we solve it? What’s next?’ That is new. That’s why even after a win, he doesn’t show the exuberant enthusiasm you would actually expect from a 19-year-old.”
“And it’s the same when something goes wrong. When we retired in Barcelona due to a technical defect or also in Silverstone – he came back to the garage and was the one who told the team: ‘This is a mechanical sport. These things happen.’ At 19 years old! That is really extraordinary.”
“I believe this mindset and attitude are one of the main reasons why his talent is already fully coming to fruition so early in his career.”
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What a difference a single year can make.
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Oleg Karpow