Kimi Antonelli carries a 59-point championship lead into the second half of 2026, and the 20-year-old Mercedes driver says the key is staying loose. The Italian, in just his second F1 season, rattled off six wins before the break—including back-to-back victories in China and Japan that made him the youngest driver ever to top the standings.
His approach borrows from Roger Federer: be yourself, enjoy the moment. The relaxed mindset, he says, lets him feel the car better and extract performance without chasing it. That's the theory. In practice, he's got George Russell 59 points back in the sister Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton within striking distance at Ferrari.
The summer break gave Antonelli time to reflect, but he's clear the job isn't done. Halfway through the season, he's defending against two drivers who've been here before—and he hasn't.
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