Kimi Antonelli identifies new challenges after F1 summer break transformation

Kimi Antonelli, despite being mid-way through his rookie season in Formula 1, left school a few months ago after taking his final exams in June.

The return from the F1 summer break has many similarities with going back to school at the end of the summer, but for the Mercedes driver, it has a special flavour, that of awareness, of the goals to be achieved in the second half of his maiden season.

His campaign began well, with points finishes in five of the opening six rounds, before a rear suspension upgrade made the W16 more unstable, something that adversely affected Antonelli's confidence and cost him critical performance.

Aside from an outlier first podium at the Canadian Grand Prix, the young Italian would not finish in the top 10 again until the final round before the summer shutdown, the Hungarian Grand Prix - also the first weekend Mercedes had reverted to its previous rear suspension.

"I would have liked there to have been another grand prix after Budapest, before the summer break, to end the first part of the season with a better performance, but I must say that the three-week break was useful, not only to relax and clear my mind, but above all to get a clear idea of how to approach the races from now until the end of the season," Antonelli explained to RacingNews365 as part of an Italian media session.

"I was able to analyse the first part of the season and see how, up to a certain point, that is, until we adopted the [Imola-spec] suspension, it was a constant crescendo for me, a learning process that bore fruit from race to race.

"Then, with the adoption of the new suspension, everything changed for me. Even though things went well in Canada, it was an exception because the Montreal track suited our car very well, even with the new suspension.

"Then, in Austria, it became clear to me that the behaviour of the W16 with the new suspension was much more unpredictable, not giving me the confidence I needed to push hard. I demand a lot from the car, trying to find its limits, and with the new one, it was difficult to find them, as I didn't feel the car in the same way as with the previous version."

Looking ahead

Antonelli made it clear how crucial confidence is, especially when entering corners, for drivers to extract maximum performance from modern-day F1 cars.

The insights gained from the experience with the new suspension will not be lost, however, and will be used in the detailed design of the 2026 car.

"Despite the negative feedback in terms of confidence, it cannot be said that the new suspension has not shown any advantages, which could be realised, perhaps by finding a different compromise in terms of adjustments and setup," added the 19-year-old.

Next year, according to Antonelli, the driver will play an even more decisive role in exploiting the car, including in terms of power unit usage, especially with regard to battery charging, which will play a crucial role.

"I've tried the 2026 car twice on the simulator, although obviously with a non-definitive PU [power unit]. They seem like cars that will have very different dynamic behaviour compared to the current ones," he said.

"The weight changes, but above all, the dimensions change, which, being smaller than now, will make them much more manoeuvrable and effective in mixed sections. Performance in those areas will immediately be equal to or even superior to the 2025 cars.

"Then the aerodynamics will be completely different, partly a return to the previous concept with a large, flat underbody. They will be very agile and precise".

In short, Antonelli, back from the summer break, could be said to have consolidated a deep awareness of his own abilities and a clear vision of the present and the future, not just the immediate future.

All this, coincidentally, can be defined as maturity...