One year ago, on the Melbourne circuit, his Formula 1 adventure officially began Andrea Kimi Antonellitoday as then the only Italian driver present on the starting grid. In a rookie year, the Bolognese has had ups and downs behind the wheel of the Mercedesbut on the eve of the Australian weekend the #12 presents himself with optimism, favored by the climate that reigns in the Brackley team: “There is a positive atmosphere at the moment – he commented to the media – everyone is very excited to get started because there’s a new regulation, a new opportunity, and it seems like we’re in a good position. Of course, it is very difficult to know everyone’s real pace because in testing you never know what program the other teams are following, but we are satisfied with the work we have done, and the car seems to respond well. This is positive and we can’t wait for the weekend.”
First victory, but not only that
Three times on the podium and author of a pole in the Sprint qualifying in Miami, Antonelli has not yet achieved a victory in F1, with 2026 which could prove to be the right opportunity to reach this goal, but not only that: “This is the goal. Ultimately, even fight for the championship if possible. First we need to see where we are, as a team and also as a driver. I have to see where I am compared to others. I have a very strong teammate and, certainly, the other riders are also very good. It won’t be easy, but if we are competitive I think anything is possible“.
Aspects to improve
An objective that the 19-year-old therefore wants to achieve not only by exploiting the potential of the car, but also by changing the approach to racing, a weak point in a phase of the last championship: “Coming into every weekend, you want to win, you always want to be the best. My way of thinking is to understand and try to put myself in the best position possible, so I ask myself, ‘How do I win?’ What do I need to do to put myself in the best position to do this?’ Obviously I take it one race at a time, but I think about what I need to do to be the best. It’s something I didn’t do last year and I want to do this year because it’s a great opportunityand it will be important to maximize every race weekend.”
W17 yet to be discovered
In conclusion, Antonelli is ready to start a new season, despite not knowing the true potential of the new W17: “I think overall we’re in a great position – he added – the team has done a great job so far at both Brackley and Brixworth. We’re in a great position, but obviously we don’t know the true rhythm of others or even our own because obviously in the tests we focused on understanding the car. I think it’s going to be interesting, and that’s why I’m very excited for the weekend, because there are a lot of questions that need to be answered and we want to find out where we really are.”
