Kimi Antonelli: 'Still finding my way' despite 81-point lead over Russell

Kimi Antonelli leads Mercedes team-mate George Russell by 81 points after 14 grands prix and still says he is "still finding my way" in Formula 1.

The 20-year-old Italian said it in an exclusive interview with BBC Sport published on 23 September, reflecting on a breakthrough second season that has put him at the sharp end of the championship. He is in only his second full year on the grid.

To understand that quote, you have to go back to Monza in 2024. Mercedes had just announced Antonelli as the replacement for Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton. The next day the team gave the then 18-year-old an outing in first practice — FP1, the opening hour of track time — at his home race.

He flew on his first timed lap. He crashed heavily on his second. It was fast, public and brutal for a debut.

Antonelli told BBC Sport that crash "stayed in my head for a very long time," including through the whole 2025 season. That is a long shadow. A driver who does not trust the car in fast corners will lift a fraction early, brake a fraction early, and the lap time simply never comes.

The shift, he said, came quietly. A few wet laps at Silverstone in January 2026 left him feeling mentally better in the new Mercedes. No headlines. Just laps, in the rain, with grip changing every corner.

Australia showed why that mattered. Antonelli crashed in third practice — FP3, the final practice hour before qualifying — at the 2026 season opener in Melbourne. This time he went straight back to pushing in the high-speed corners. Russell won the race. Antonelli finished less than three seconds behind him.

Then came the full circle. Antonelli won his home race, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza for Mercedes, climbing from 19th on the grid to first, according to BBC Sport. Two years after his practice shunt, he stood on the top step at the same track.

What makes this stand out is the maths against the mood. An 81-point gap over 14 races is commanding. Rivals have noticed, with Max Verstappen describing his first half of 2026 as "really impressive". Yet Antonelli still talks like a rookie with a lot to prove, a line he also used earlier in the year when he held the lead after six races.

For fans, this means the title fight is not just about points. It is about a young driver learning, in public, to leave a big crash behind him.