Kimi Antonelli has revealed that his seat was not properly secured during the opening practice session for the 2026 United States Grand Prix, causing it to move at high speed and making the Mercedes difficult to drive. Despite the unusual problem, the Formula 1 championship leader ended Friday’s running in Austin with an encouraging second place in FP2, finishing just 0.042 seconds behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as Mercedes continued to make progress with its upgraded W17.
The Italian’s Friday was therefore a mixture of unexpected difficulties and promising performance. After losing valuable track time because of the seat issue, Kimi Antonelli recovered to challenge at the front of the field, while Mercedes gathered further evidence that its latest aerodynamic developments are moving the car in the right direction.
Kimi Antonelli reveals loose seat problem during Austin FP1
Kimi Antonelli’s preparations for the United States Grand Prix were disrupted by an unusual technical problem during the first free practice session at the Circuit of The Americas. The seat inside his Mercedes W17 had not been secured correctly, leaving the Italian dealing with unexpected movement while driving at high speed.
“The start was a bit difficult because the seat wasn’t secured properly, so on the first lap it almost felt like being on a rollercoaster, with the seat moving around at high speed,” Kimi Antonelli explained. “We lost a bit of time, but then we got back on track.”
Although the issue interrupted his early running, Mercedes managed to recover and continue its planned programme. The setback did not prevent Kimi Antonelli from producing one of the strongest performances during the second practice session, suggesting that the team’s work on the updated car is beginning to deliver encouraging results.
Kimi Antonelli finishes just 0.042 seconds behind Charles Leclerc in Austin FP2
After overcoming the early difficulties, Kimi Antonelli finished second in FP2, only 42 thousandths of a second behind Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver set the benchmark at the Circuit of The Americas, but the narrow margin demonstrated that Mercedes remained firmly in contention at the front of the field.
The performance was especially encouraging for the championship leader because Mercedes has spent recent races working to understand the behaviour of its latest aerodynamic package. Although the upgrades have improved the car’s potential, the team has also faced challenges in consistently operating the W17 within its ideal performance window.
Kimi Antonelli believes the progress made during the opening day in Austin represents another positive development, although further improvements will be necessary if Mercedes is to fight for victory on Sunday.
“Now we’ll analyse the data overnight to see whether we can take another step forward. We’ll probably need to if we want to make sure we can fight for the win on Sunday,” Kimi Antonelli said.
Mercedes W17 upgrades show encouraging progress ahead of qualifying
Beyond the competitive lap time, Kimi Antonelli was particularly satisfied with the direction Mercedes has taken with its upgraded W17. The Italian believes the team has continued building on the progress made during the previous Grand Prix in Singapore, with both Mercedes drivers now running the same car configuration.
“It was an encouraging day for us, given the progress we’ve made with the upgrade package. We made some good steps forward in Singapore, and it’s rewarding to see that trend continue here, with George and me using the same configuration,” Kimi Antonelli explained.
Using the same specification on both cars gives Mercedes a consistent basis for evaluating the developments, while the remaining challenge is to make the upgraded W17 perform reliably within its optimal operating range.
“There’s still work to do to make sure we can consistently get the car into its optimal performance window, and that will be our main objective heading into FP3,” Kimi Antonelli concluded.
The encouraging Friday performance leaves Mercedes with reasons for optimism, although the small gap between Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc suggests the fight at the front could remain extremely close. Ferrari also demonstrated strong potential during FP2, with Charles Leclerc setting the fastest time and showing promising pace over longer runs. Further details of the session are available in the Austin FP2 analysis of Charles Leclerc’s pace and Ferrari’s performance.
For Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes, the priority now is to turn Friday’s promising signs into a consistently competitive package for the remainder of the United States Grand Prix weekend. After overcoming his unusual seat problem and finishing within 0.042 seconds of the fastest time, the Italian will approach FP3 with a clear objective: finding the final improvements required to challenge for victory.
Leave a Reply