Kimi Antonelli hoping to fix his race start issues at Miami Grand Prix

A persistent problem off the line

Kimi Antonelli has shed light on the ongoing efforts at Mercedes to resolve the "fundamental" start and launch issues that have plagued his 2026 Formula 1 campaign. Across all four race starts this season—including the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint—the front-row starter has consistently fallen back into the clutches of the chasing pack. The problem is not isolated to the young Italian, as his teammate George Russell has also suffered from similar launch difficulties.

However, Antonelli remains unconvinced that this regulatory adjustment will cure his woes, pointing instead to deep-rooted factors within the Mercedes package.

Identifying the root cause

Speaking to the media, Antonelli explained that the team's struggles go beyond what a simple energy deployment tweak can fix.

"Well, I think my issue is more fundamental, so I think it’s not that this tweak is going to help me massively," Antonelli stated. "We have been doing some practice starts, of course, during the break. We’ve been working with the team to try to recognise what the issue is, and we seem to have found it."

With the root cause seemingly identified, the focus has shifted toward implementing a fix. Yet, as Antonelli detailed, the remedy will require physical modifications rather than quick setup changes.

The path to a solution

The complexity of the issue means that Mercedes cannot simply engineer their way out of the problem overnight. The required changes involve both the hardware of the clutch paddle and the driver's physical interaction with it.

"Now we’re trying to obviously think about a solution as soon as possible, and then obviously we know where to work on for the solution," Antonelli explained. "So, it’s not going to be that straightforward because it needs a change on the clutch paddle and a little bit on hand positioning as well, so definitely it’s not going to be as straightforward."

Despite the hurdles, the team is pushing hard to rectify the situation. "But we are doing our best to find that solution as soon as possible in order to be able to do decent starts. But definitely, we recognised that my issue was much more fundamental," he added.

Looking ahead, Antonelli is hopeful for incremental progress in Florida, with further development planned for the subsequent gap in the calendar. "Now we’ll see in Miami if we can do a step forward, and then obviously we have another break after Miami, so more time to work on and to find that solution."