Here's how "secret radio codes" sealed Antonelli’s Spanish GP victory

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has revealed how strategic preparation and rotating secret codes enabled Kimi Antonelli to execute the race-winning pitstop at the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix.

Secret Codes and Precision Communication

“Well, we will use secret codes to give them an idea of whether they might want to come in on a safety car during the race. But we try not to let all the other teams know what those codes are. So, we change them every single week,” Shovlin explained.

“We had the yellow flag, Bono confirms. Kimi actually backed off a bit and bought himself another second, which was probably... He might have got in without it. It certainly made it possible. And if you watch the onboard from Kimi's car, you'll see that Kimi getting in was not an easy thing. And you'll see that as he was pulling up in the pit box, the tyres were arriving as he was stopping. So, it was a difficult stop to execute in that time frame.”

Before the stop, Bonnington told Antonelli: “Yellow, yellow, 19-20,” added “So, a big lift,” and then radioed: “You are in safety car window.” The direct call to pit followed immediately once the VSC was deployed, mirroring the sharp tactical instincts seen when Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix.

Flawless Pitwall and Garage Execution

While Antonelli was already close to the entry road, slowing down bought crucial split seconds for both car and crew. There were 35 seconds between the initial yellow flag and the VSC deployment, followed by just 15 seconds from the VSC call until Antonelli halted in his box. Mercedes successfully double-stacked Antonelli and George Russell, with fresh tyres ready for both drivers.

Shovlin noted that while Sunday morning strategy meetings outline every safety car and VSC scenario, execution hinges on decisive execution without hesitation.

“We were focused on Sunday morning on making sure that we were ready to react to any incident,” Shovlin said. “And what was nice to see here is there was a plan. Kimi knew he was in the window for a VSC. Bono confirmed it as soon as there was an incident.”