Kimi Antonelli’s aggressive driving style has emerged as one of the keys to his remarkable speed in the 2026 Formula 1 cars. With six victories, six pole positions and a consistent run of results that has placed him firmly at the top of the Formula 1 drivers’ standings, the Italian has combined immense natural talent with a technique particularly well suited to the demands of the new generation of machinery.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli has no intention of surrendering his championship lead. One year after enduring one of his most difficult Formula 1 weekends at Spa-Francorchamps, the Mercedes driver gained his revenge with a victory that mathematically guarantees he will begin the summer break at the top of the standings. However, the significance of his Belgian Grand Prix performance extends far beyond the result itself.
Spa was the circuit where Andrea Kimi Antonelli struggled last year with a suspension configuration that failed to give him the confidence he needed in the car. His return to Belgium therefore provided a valuable indication of how much he has developed over the past 12 months and why his driving style, alongside his considerable talent, is proving so effective with the 2026 Formula 1 cars. His progress at the circuit was already evident when Mercedes found the set-up changes that helped him secure pole position at Spa.
Why the 2026 F1 cars suit Kimi Antonelli’s driving style
To understand the effectiveness of Kimi Antonelli’s driving style, it is necessary to return to the final year of the previous regulatory cycle and the ground-effect cars. Those machines could be extraordinarily stable, but they could also behave unpredictably. The development of flexible wings became particularly important because the concept helped teams improve stability and balance through corners.
When that stability suddenly disappeared, however, the ground-effect cars could snap without warning. It was no coincidence that drivers repeatedly explained how difficult it was to recover the car after exceeding the limit. The previous generation also possessed another distinctive characteristic: difficulties during the combined phase, when a driver brakes and steers simultaneously on corner entry.
The move from 13-inch to 18-inch tyres reduced the height of the tyre sidewall, resulting in a shorter contact patch. Some drivers struggled with this characteristic more than others because they had previously made the combined braking-and-steering phase one of their strengths. Once they could no longer attack corner entry as aggressively as they wanted, they had to modify certain aspects of their driving style. Pirelli worked to reduce the effect, although part of the behaviour is an unavoidable consequence of reducing the tyre’s contact patch.
“If you imagine the tyre rolling in the longitudinal direction, the length of the contact patch is shorter,” explained Dario Marrafuschi, Head of Pirelli Motorsport. “With a shorter contact patch, the transition in terms of driving feel between having grip and losing it becomes more sudden.”
“That is why we understand the drivers’ comments. We expected these difficulties to occur during the corner-entry phase when managing grip, precisely because the snap gives you less warning.”
These two elements are particularly important this season because teams have discovered that the combined phase has become even more complicated. The 2026 tyres are narrower as part of the effort to reduce aerodynamic drag. Generating more front-end downforce helps prevent some of the lock-ups that can occur while braking and turning, but the process remains extremely demanding.
A rapid steering input helps stabilise the rear
“The corner-entry phase, when you are braking and have to combine several inputs, is very delicate,” McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained. “It is really difficult to avoid locking the tyres.”
“Even when you do not have front locking, you can still experience instability because the tyres do not seem to have much ability to transition smoothly from purely longitudinal load to purely lateral load as you enter the corner.”
A connected factor is the behaviour of the rear of the car. By their nature, the 2026 machines have a less stable rear end than the ground-effect cars. In some respects, however, their behaviour is also more honest and predictable, allowing the drivers to experiment more freely with the available grip.
Since the opening day of the new technical cycle, drivers have repeatedly emphasised that the 2026 cars are aerodynamically easier and more enjoyable to drive despite producing less outright downforce. Their more progressive behaviour gives drivers a clearer understanding of where the limit lies.
This dynamic makes corner entry and the opening part of the corner particularly sensitive. According to Dario Marrafuschi, some drivers respond to that uncertainty by deliberately saturating the front axle.
“Some drivers, precisely to react to that difficulty in interpreting the corner-entry phase, tend to saturate the front on entry,” Dario Marrafuschi explained. “Saturating the front can mean entering the corner with a very rapid steering movement, placing the front in a condition where it receives a step-like input towards a very large steering angle, causing the car to tend to go straight on.”
“What does it mean when the car tends to go straight on? It means that the rear is stabilised more effectively, while the front progressively gains grip. This driving style of oversaturating the front is then inevitably reflected in tyre wear and temperatures. When we analyse the tyres for every team during each session, we take measurements and can see the differences.”
How Kimi Antonelli tries to shorten every corner
This is one of the defining characteristics of Kimi Antonelli’s aggressive driving style. The Italian attempts to shorten the radius of the corner rather than following a long, progressive arc.
In some corners, the rotation towards the end of the turn-in phase does not happen smoothly. Instead, Kimi Antonelli applies a very rapid steering input and consequently uses a considerable amount of steering lock. It is a technique particularly suited to drivers with excellent control of the car at low and medium speeds, allowing them to rotate and stabilise it quickly.
“It is mainly my style,” Kimi Antonelli said when asked about his technique by Motorsport.com. “I try to shorten the corner radius, as well as the time I spend between braking and the dead phase. I try to compress the corner into something as small as 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.”
There are limitations to this approach. The way a driver handles the car naturally changes between qualifying and the race, while circuit characteristics and track temperatures can determine whether an aggressive technique is effective or excessively demanding on the tyres.
“Obviously, the way you drive changes between qualifying and the race,” Kimi Antonelli continued. “But I have to say that I struggled a little more in qualifying in Barcelona because I was demanding too much from the car, partly because of the very high temperatures.”
“The tyre dropped away quickly, to the point that in qualifying the rear was already gone after Turn 7. Let’s say it is a style that helps at certain circuits, while at others you may have to adapt it because the conditions do not allow you to drive that way.”
Before the Belgian Grand Prix, Kimi Antonelli believed the cooler temperatures at Spa could work in his favour, although he stressed that every circuit presents different demands.
“I don’t think it will be that hot [at Spa], so that could help,” he said. “But ultimately every circuit is different. At Silverstone, for example, I had to adapt it slightly because the circuit is made up of long, fast corners and this style did not help that much.”
The same aggressive approach remained visible at Spa, particularly at Turn 1 and the final chicane. In both places, Kimi Antonelli shortened the entry before applying the rapid steering movement that helps him rotate the car. The successful adaptation followed the earlier Mercedes set-up breakthrough during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
Kimi Antonelli and George Russell use contrasting techniques
The difference between Kimi Antonelli and George Russell is clearly visible in their onboard footage, and rival teams have also noticed the contrast. While the Italian prefers an aggressive approach that appears to match the requirements of the 2026 Formula 1 cars, George Russell has traditionally been smoother and more progressive with his steering inputs. That technique worked particularly well with the previous ground-effect machinery.
“If we look at George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, we can clearly see that they have different driving styles,” Andrea Stella explained in Monaco. “It is evident from the onboard footage and the way they use the steering wheel.”
“Driving style definitely has an effect [on how the tyres work]. Looking at the lap times Kimi Antonelli managed to produce here [in Monaco] and those he achieved in Canada during the race, those differences compared with everyone else must also come from the way you manage the tyres.”
“If it were purely a question of aerodynamic load, it would be an exaggeration and you would not see such significant gaps to his team-mate.”
The contrast is part of a much wider set-up picture, and driving style cannot explain every performance difference between the two Mercedes drivers. However, it has already influenced how they extract lap time and manage the car’s systems, with Mercedes also identifying driving-style differences among the factors behind George Russell’s deployment difficulties.
The subject has inevitably contributed to questions over whether Mercedes is taking different technical approaches with Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. For now, however, Kimi Antonelli’s method simply appears particularly effective with the new cars—and it requires considerable sensitivity to make it work consistently.
The 2026 F1 cars must be attacked to unlock their speed
According to the teams’ analysis, drivers must attack to extract the full potential of the 2026 Formula 1 cars, especially in low-grip conditions. Kimi Antonelli was already frequently competitive in Grands Prix with limited adhesion last season, particularly when getting the tyres into the correct operating window was decisive.
An excessively smooth approach may no longer produce the desired result. Drivers cannot simply prioritise clean steering inputs and a conventional compromise between corner entry and exit.
“This year’s car requires the drivers to attack constantly,” Andrea Stella added. “Essentially, if you try to make your inputs smooth and clean, rotating the car mainly with the front—which is what you would normally expect—and seek a compromise by coasting on entry to achieve a good exit, it does not pay off in terms of lap time.”
The combination of aggression and extremely precise tyre management is therefore crucial. Kimi Antonelli had already shown last season that he could make a difference over long distances through his sensitivity towards the tyres. In 2026, he is demonstrating both an effective interpretation of the new regulations and the natural ability required to make an extraordinarily difficult balancing act appear instinctive.
With six victories and six pole positions already secured, that combination has carried Kimi Antonelli to the championship lead. Mercedes has maintained that it will not prematurely favour one driver, with Toto Wolff explaining why team orders will not yet be used to prioritise Kimi Antonelli. Nevertheless, the Italian’s capacity to attack the 2026 cars at precisely the moment when others are searching for stability has become one of the defining technical stories of the season.
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