Mercedes accept blame for costly Kimi Antonelli ‘glitch’

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has absolved Kimi Antonelli of any blame for his latest bad start after losing places in the Miami Grand Prix Sprint.

From second on the grid, Antonelli fell back for the fifth time in as many standing starts in 2026, but was still running fourth after passing team-mate George Russell.

However, despite crossing the line in fourth place, Antonelli was then handed a five-second time penalty post-race for exceeding track limits, dropping him to sixth and reducing his points lead over Russell to seven, when it was 10 on the road.

Earlier in the weekend, following the failed starts in Australia, both China races, and in Japan, Antonelli hinted that he had a "fundamental" issue to resolve - which he suggested had been as a Mercedes-related issue affected him this time around. 

"We knew that we were a little bit out of sync with our upgrades, which are coming in Montreal, but we were hoping that we would be able to hold on for now," Wolff told Sky Sports F1.

"In terms of lap-time, we do, but obviously, if you have such a bad getaway, which was not at all Kimi's fault, it was a glitch on our side, it is difficult."

As for Antonelli himself, the Italian explained that "for once", he had not made any mistakes in the procedure from his side.

"We've been doing work over the break, and on my side, for once, I did everything right with the procedures," he explained.

"So we need to check what happened - the grip was very low, lower than we expected, but then after that, I was really frustrated, and I didn't even drive well, I made a lot of mistakes.

"I got track limits, which is something I need to avoid, but this weekend, it has been more difficult, but it was expected with everyone bringing big upgrades, and now, we've just got to try to maximise the focus on qualifying."