Antonelli Aims to Improve Race Starts After Thrilling Japanese GP Victory

Despite a dominant performance that saw him claim victory by a comfortable margin at the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has openly acknowledged the need to sharpen his race starts following a frustrating drop in positions at the beginning of the race.

Starting from pole position for the second consecutive race, the 19-year-old Italian found himself in P6 after a sluggish launch at lights out on Sunday. "I was very annoyed with the start," Antonelli admitted post-race. "I really need to find a way to do good starts because to be fair, it looked like we were doing a good job for the whole weekend."

The poor getaway mirrored a similar issue for his Mercedes teammate George Russell, while McLaren's Oscar Piastri capitalized brilliantly, surging from third to first. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and their respective teammates also gained ground into Turn 1, highlighting the competitive nature of the field.

Antonelli's fortunes turned as he methodically overtook Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris on track. The race's turning point came with the deployment of the Safety Car following Ollie Bearman's incident with his Haas, allowing Antonelli to pit efficiently and maintain the lead. On the restart, he held off Piastri, set the fastest lap, and controlled the race to win by 13.722 seconds.

"The pace was super strong and of course we were lucky with the outcome of the Safety Car, even though on the mediums we had really strong pace," the young driver reflected. His victory propelled him to the top of the Drivers' Standings with 72 points, nine ahead of Russell, who had a disappointing weekend without a podium for the first time this season.

Looking ahead, Antonelli remains focused on improvement. "Now I’m going to enjoy the win but at the same time, I’m going to work hard on the areas where we need to improve," he said. "I’m going to need to come back stronger and I need to raise my game because it’s not going to be easy."

The driver expressed satisfaction with the car's performance, particularly on hard tires, where he built a strong rhythm. "I’m really happy with the pace. I was feeling really good with the car... Very happy with that, and now a bit of rest. There’s a lot of work to do still. I’m excited to be back in Miami in four weeks’ time."