At Miami, Kimi Antonelli extended his winning run to three in a row, but the bigger story was less flattering: the Mercedes driver is still giving away ground at the start. He rescued second place from the chaos at Turn 1, yet the poor launch was another reminder that even the quickest in Formula 1 can be undone by the smallest detail.
Antonelli won in Miami despite a messy getaway
From the off, the Mercedes driver did not get the race on the right footing. Starting from pole position, he was not leading as the field reached the first corner, which is hardly ideal for a driver who had already turned wins in China and Japan into a proper run of form. The simple truth is that the fastest over one lap does not automatically become the best off the line, and in Formula 1 that gap is punished almost immediately.
In practical terms, Antonelli again lost ground at the launch. Already under pressure from Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, he tried to make up for it with a very late brake, locked the wheels and ran wide. There is rarely much room to recover from that sort of mistake. In Formula 1, a few missed metres at the start can reshape an entire Sunday’s strategy.
Miami exposed a real weakness rather than a one-off blip
This was not the first time the issue has cropped up. Since the beginning of the season, Antonelli has been having recurring difficulties at the starts, and it is beginning to affect the way his races unfold. Miami did not just confirm a problem that was already visible; it put it back under the spotlight at exactly the moment when expectations are rising with every strong result.
Put simply, the Mercedes driver has the pace, but he is still missing the clean execution when the lights go out. In a field this tight, that changes everything. A poor start does not just cost a place or two. It also increases the odds of the wrong call, the over-ambitious brake application, the avoided contact or the strategy that has to be changed on the fly.
The race itself still gave him a helping hand
Antonelli did more than survive the poor getaway. He also benefited from the way the race unfolded, not least Verstappen’s spin ahead of him, which helped him keep hold of second place. That is where his own judgement matters: he admitted he had been “lucky”. It is an honest, almost blunt assessment, and a fair reflection of the day. Quick, composed in spells, but also helped along by events.
After a battle with Charles Leclerc, he retook control before Lando Norris passed him just before the safety car. A well-judged undercut then allowed him to get back ahead of the McLaren. Tactically, Mercedes got the job done. In pure racing terms, Antonelli simply held his nerve under pressure. It is not quite the same thing.
Against Norris, every error counted twice
The final 20 laps felt like constant surveillance. Lando Norris chased Antonelli relentlessly, without ever getting closer than two seconds. The pair finished more than 20 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, which tells you just how separate their fight was from the pack behind. For Antonelli, that meant the margin for error was effectively paper-thin.
The young Italian did not hide the fact that the pressure was real. He knew Norris could switch on a serious overtaking mode, and he could not afford to waste a single opportunity. In that sort of situation, keeping a cool head matters almost as much as front-end grip. That is often where champions are made: in the ability to repeat a tidy lap when the instinct is to overdrive the car.
Mercedes sees an issue for the whole team, not just the driver
After the race, Toto Wolff was keen to share out the blame. For the Mercedes chief, the poor start was not down to Antonelli alone. He pointed to an issue involving the clutch and the estimate of grip, making it clear that this is as much about the car and the procedure as it is about the man behind the wheel.
That distinction matters. In Formula 1, starts are a team exercise, with the driver, the process and the car needing to work together perfectly. If one part slips, the whole launch suffers. Mercedes knows it, and Wolff was blunt enough to say the team is not yet where it wants to be on that front. So this is not simply the story of a young driver still learning the ropes; it is also about a package that is not quite delivering cleanly when it matters most.
Gearbox troubles added strain, even if they did not change the outcome
As the race wore on, Antonelli also had to deal with a few gearshift issues. He said he lost some downshifts for two or three laps, and then experienced a couple of moments where the car would not shift from seventh to eighth. He did not believe that altered the result, but it was another layer of stress on top of an already demanding afternoon.
The point is revealing. A fast car is of limited use if it keeps reminding you, however briefly, that it can make life awkward at the worst possible time. Antonelli responded well by preventing those issues from turning the race into a mess. But the broader picture is still the same: in a Grand Prix this close, even a small technical gremlin becomes an immediate mental burden.
A reassuring win, but not a weekend without warning signs
Miami therefore leaves Antonelli with two very different takeaways. On one side, there is a significant victory, a winning streak that continues and another sign that he can hold his own against top-class opposition. On the other, there is still a problematic start, a slice of good fortune and a Mercedes team that knows the job is not finished. For any driver, winning is the headline. Understanding why it was not entirely tidy is the more useful lesson.
At this stage, Miami says one clear thing: Antonelli has the speed to win, but he cannot rely on race pace alone if the starts remain a weak point. And in Formula 1, it is often that sort of detail that separates controlled domination from a victory that has to be salvaged the hard way.
What stands out from Antonelli’s Miami weekend
- Antonelli won the Miami Grand Prix after starting from pole position.
- He had another poor start, reinforcing a recurring weakness since the beginning of the season.
- The Mercedes driver admitted he had been “lucky” in the way the race played out.
- Toto Wolff believes the start issue is also down to the team, not just the driver.
- Antonelli was under heavy pressure from Lando Norris in the closing stages.
- Some gearshift problems added stress, but did not change the final result.
