The moment Antonelli knew he had been transformed as an F1 driver

Kimi Antonelli says he knew from the first moment he drove this year's Mercedes that he would be transformed as a Formula 1 driver in 2026.

The 20-year-old Italian, who is running away with the world championship in only his second season in F1, is reflecting on his breakthrough year in the sport in an exclusive interview with BBC Sport.

A difficult debut season last year had left external expectations of Antonelli low at the start of 2026. But on a typically damp and cold January day at Silverstone, he already sensed that something special might be on the cards.

"It was just a few laps in the wet," Antonelli says, "but I just felt better in the car, much better than I felt last year. Also the car felt well, but I just felt better mentally in the car. Less tense, more relaxed and more mature."

Last year, he says, was "not great". "I was driving very tense most of the time, I wasn't able to extract the potential out of me," he says.

"This year, it's a lot different. The mindset has been the biggest change."

Fast forward eight months and the effects of that new headspace are plain to see.

After 14 grands prix, and with either eight or nine remaining depending on the war in the Middle East, Antonelli is a massive 81 points clear of team-mate George Russell.

Not only that, but he looks so in control. Always fast, always composed, a factor in every grand prix. Everyone knows the championship is basically over, barring some kind of dramatic misfortune.

Even then, Antonelli says he is "still finding my way" in F1.

The journey Antonelli has been on in the past two years is remarkable, and he says even he is "surprised" by the extent of his progress this year.

He was comprehensively outperformed by Russell in 2025. So when it was obvious that Mercedes would start the new regulatory era with an advantage, it was the Briton who started the season as championship favourite.

Russell duly won the opening race in Australia, but Antonelli was less than three seconds behind him at the flag. This, he says, was the second moment of realisation of what might be possible.

"I had a big, big crash in FP3," Antonelli recalls. "But then thanks to the mechanics - who all throughout the season have done an incredible job, but on that specific occasion, it is a miracle - I was able to go back in the car and push again in the high speed and getting close to the limit.

"The crash, definitely it compromised a little bit qualifying and the race because we couldn't set up properly the car. I mean, the car was still very quick. But it was not easy.

"Still being able to stay close despite that, I was like, 'OK, you know, it's not going to be a walk in the park. It's going to be very tough', but I knew already that it was a different story compared to last year.

"If it would have happened last year, I wouldn't have been able to overcome that."

Monza 2024 memory made Antonelli 'afraid to do a mistake'

Antonelli's first season in F1 was haunted by an incident that happened the first time he drove on a grand prix weekend.

At the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, the day after they had formally announced Antonelli was the replacement for Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes gave him an outing in first practice at Monza.

He was blindingly fast on his first flying lap - but then crashed heavily on his second.

Team principal Toto Wolff played it down at the time, saying he was well aware there would be mistakes from Antonelli as he found his feet in F1. But behind the scenes the incident had had a big impact on the young man.

"Monza stayed in my head for a very long time," Antonelli says. "I think all throughout last season, at least. Definitely that was a big thing that was kind of slowing me down.

"This memory of being afraid to do a mistake, also because going through the difficult period (in the middle of 2025), this memory was even stronger in my head, if you know what I mean.

"Because it was already a difficult period and I was like, 'If I even do a mistake or I crash, it's even worse.'

"So yeah, it's been a thing that has been bothering me a lot last year. This year I was able to just put it behind."

Doing so has involved a lot of work behind the scenes, analysing what happened in 2025, understanding what had gone well, what had not, and why, and what he could do to improve.

"The mindset going into this season, it was mainly trying to be able to extract more out of my potential," Antonelli says. "Trying to, first of all, do a better job than previous year. But as well trying to put things more together.