Antonelli Labels Mercedes' Start Woes 'Unacceptable', Demands Improvement

Kimi Antonelli has lost positions on every single standing start so far in the 2026 F1 season – across four Grands Prix and two Sprints – and he's making no excuses. The Mercedes driver called the trend “unacceptable” during the Miami weekend, revealing fresh details about his struggles with clutch release and the team's miscalculation of grip levels.

Why it matters:

With the field closing in on Mercedes, a poor start can now decide a race. Antonelli leads the championship, but if his recurring launch issues aren't fixed, they could cost him wins – or worse, the title. The team's early-season dominance is fading, making every tenth of a second critical.

The details:

• Consistent losses: Across all six standing starts, Antonelli has dropped positions each time, falling into the pack before recovering. He won in China, Japan, and Miami despite the problem.
• Miami Sprint disaster: Starting second, he plummeted to eighth after the lights went out, eventually climbing to fourth on track before a five-second track limits penalty. Toto Wolff took responsibility, citing a team error in calculating grip levels for that start.
• Antonelli's admission: “I'm still a little bit inconsistent, especially on clutch-drop. I still don't have that confidence, being consistent with that… it is a big point which needs to be improved.” He noted the procedure was good in the Sprint, but the expected grip wasn't there.
• Race start improvement: In the Miami GP, he lost only two places – a relative improvement. “I managed it better than in the Sprint, where I was very frustrated. I just kept it a bit cool and focused on the race.”

What's next:

Antonelli and Mercedes must solve the launch issue quickly. He stressed that with the margins shrinking, a bad start can “really change the race.” The team will analyze data from both the Sprint and GP starts to find consistency. If they can nail the procedure – both the clutch work and grip prediction – Antonelli could turn his biggest weakness into a strength as the season progresses.