Kimi Antonelli will start from the back of the grid at the 2026 Italian Grand Prix after Mercedes introduces his fifth power unit of the season, but the championship leader will not receive an additional performance boost at Monza. The new specification has instead been improved in terms of reliability, following the same approach Mercedes adopted with the unit introduced in Austria.
Kimi Antonelli’s new Mercedes power unit focuses on reliability
Kimi Antonelli will start from the back of the grid at Monza because Mercedes is set to introduce the Italian driver’s fifth power unit of the season, one more than the four permitted under the regulations. The decision means the championship leader will have to fight his way through the field during his home Grand Prix.
Although Mercedes has an ADUO opportunity available to improve power-unit performance, as was already the case with the specification introduced in Austria, the latest edition of Autosprint reports that the new unit will once again feature no performance-related developments. Instead, Mercedes has concentrated on improving reliability.
This represents an important distinction after earlier expectations that Mercedes’ ADUO opportunity could provide Kimi Antonelli with a performance gain at Monza. The fifth power unit he will actually use is instead intended to offer greater dependability as Mercedes manages the championship leader’s remaining races.
“A fresher and more efficient unit,” is how the long-established Italian weekly described the power unit with which Kimi Antonelli will attempt to recover through the field on Sunday and secure valuable points.
Monza grid penalty gives Kimi Antonelli’s rivals an opportunity
The penalty creates a major challenge for Kimi Antonelli at a crucial stage of the championship. Starting from the rear will give his rivals a significant opportunity to reduce his advantage in the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship, making damage limitation one of the Mercedes driver’s main objectives at Monza.
The Italian will therefore need to maximise the advantages of a fresh and more reliable power unit without receiving any additional performance increase from the new specification. His task will be to climb as far through the field as possible and collect important points while his championship rivals have a rare opportunity to close the gap.
George Russell also expected to need fifth Mercedes power unit
Kimi Antonelli will not be the only Mercedes driver affected by the team’s power-unit situation. George Russell will also soon need to introduce a fifth power unit, which will require him to start from the back of the grid.
The most likely weekend for George Russell to take that penalty is currently the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku. Mercedes has already been evaluating where best to take George Russell’s power-unit penalty as it attempts to minimise the sporting cost during the second half of the 2026 season.
