Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes W17 driving style is helping him extract more performance from the car than George Russell during the 2026 Formula 1 season. The Italian driver’s aggressive corner entry, precise management of the Pirelli tyres and earlier braking technique have all contributed to the substantial qualifying advantages he has occasionally established over his team-mate.
Antonelli’s approach appears particularly well suited to the demands of the latest generation of Formula 1 machinery. By shortening the corner-entry phase and adapting his braking to maximise energy recovery, the championship leader has found a way to exploit characteristics that George Russell has not yet mastered to the same extent.
Kimi Antonelli’s driving style is tailored to the Mercedes W17
During the first part of the championship, Kimi Antonelli has clearly managed to extract more potential from the Mercedes than George Russell. On several occasions, the Bologna-born driver has beaten his British team-mate by several tenths of a second in qualifying, naturally raising questions about the differences between their driving styles.
The comparison is especially significant as Mercedes considers the future dynamics between its two drivers and whether George Russell risks assuming a role similar to Valtteri Bottas alongside an increasingly competitive team-mate.
Recent comments from McLaren team principal Andrea Stella offered a useful insight into the contrast between the two Mercedes drivers.
“If we look at Russell and Antonelli, we can clearly see that they have different driving styles,” Andrea Stella said. “It is evident from the onboard footage and from the way they use the steering wheel.”
The two drivers do indeed apply steering input in fundamentally different ways. Kimi Antonelli attempts to shorten the corner-entry phase as much as possible, as he explained himself.
“I try to shorten the corner radius, as well as the time I spend between braking and the dead zone,” Kimi Antonelli said. “I try to fold the corner up like a handkerchief. I turn at the last moment, very aggressively. Let’s say I demand more from the car. I have a slightly more aggressive style.”
Those words reveal how significantly the Italian has altered his approach for the 2026 championship in an effort to adapt to the Mercedes W17. Although Antonelli’s potential remains considerable, assessments of his development have also stressed that he still has important steps to take before becoming a complete Formula 1 champion.
How Kimi Antonelli uses the Pirelli tyres
Kimi Antonelli’s approach is aggressive, but it appears to work. By delaying his steering input until the last possible moment, the Italian makes it easier for the tyres to perform effectively. The Pirelli compounds struggle to tolerate combined loads, particularly during the transition from longitudinal to lateral forces.
Antonelli has therefore adopted a different technique and made it effective. By delaying the car’s turn-in, he separates the different phases in which load is applied to the tyre more efficiently.
In practical terms, the championship leader tends to keep the Mercedes straight during the initial corner-entry phase. He extends the time spent travelling with the wheels pointing forward before turning sharply and applying lateral load to the car.
This technique is difficult to execute because it requires considerable sensitivity and talent. However, the driving approach alone cannot fully explain such substantial performance gaps. Its fundamental advantage lies in how it affects the use of the tyre compounds.
Pirelli has confirmed that different driving styles tend to generate different temperatures across the inner and outer sections of the tyres. Kimi Antonelli has admitted that his technique could also have caused rear-tyre overheating at certain races.
Nevertheless, his approach has undoubtedly helped stabilise the rear of the car, which could otherwise struggle when subjected to combined loads. Turning so late and saturating the front axle also inevitably raises the temperature of the front tyres.
At some circuits, this technique is especially effective when the characteristics of the 2026 cars and their very high tyre pressures are taken into account. The contribution of the wheel rims must also be considered, with Antonelli able to heat the inner bulk of the tyre efficiently.
Why George Russell’s progressive steering can cost performance
George Russell is much more progressive with his steering inputs and is still struggling to abandon the driving style he used with the previous generation of Formula 1 cars. Those machines could rely more heavily on aerodynamic downforce and provided a more stable platform throughout the corner-entry phase, allowing drivers to optimise efficiency differently.
Russell’s established habits mean he activates the front compound less aggressively. That becomes a particular weakness at circuits where the front tyres are subjected to lower loads and therefore require additional temperature to enter their ideal operating window.
The contrast is another important part of the wider technical challenge facing Mercedes. Although its driver pairing remains highly competitive, the team is still responding to changing performance demands while assessing decisions such as Toto Wolff’s difficult Monza choice involving Kimi Antonelli.
Kimi Antonelli’s braking technique maximises energy recovery
Energy management is another essential consideration. During recent Grands Prix, Kimi Antonelli has frequently been observed applying the brakes slightly earlier than George Russell when approaching certain corners. In this respect, his technique reflects a driving style that would have been rewarded by the previous generation of cars.
That point illustrates one of the paradoxes of modern Formula 1: the driver who brakes latest is not necessarily the fastest. Charles Leclerc has also struggled considerably with this aspect during the 2026 season because he has been unable to exploit one of his most distinctive strengths—making the difference under braking.
The challenge has formed part of Ferrari’s efforts to understand its latest car, alongside analysis of the SF-26’s underlying technical limitations in Hungary.
With the current cars, the amount of time spent braking is crucial because it allows the battery to recover energy. However, drivers need a highly disciplined mindset to act against their natural instinct to brake as late as possible.
This helps explain why Kimi Antonelli can enter the decisive straights with more electrical energy available and experience less clipping, the loss of electrical deployment towards the end of a straight once the permitted energy has been used.
Why adapting to the 2026 cars may be easier for Kimi Antonelli
The decisive factor is not simply Kimi Antonelli’s enormous natural talent. The Italian has considerable potential but still has much to prove. In some respects, adapting to this generation of cars may have been easier for him because he had not developed and reinforced the instincts associated with earlier Formula 1 machinery.
George Russell, by comparison, has had to unlearn techniques that previously delivered performance. Antonelli has been able to build his approach around the needs of the Mercedes W17, rather than attempting to carry an established style into a very different technical era.
Only time will provide further confirmation of the Italian driver’s advantage. Formula 1’s greatest drivers have always distinguished themselves through their ability to adapt their driving style when faced with profoundly different car characteristics. Antonelli’s position in the 2026 Formula 1 driver standings suggests that his adaptation is already producing meaningful results.
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