Antonelli vows same mindset in Mercedes title battle after strong 2026 start

Antonelli's teammate, George Russell, was widely tipped to be the favourite for the Drivers' title, but after back-to back victories in China and Japan, respectively, the Italian leads the standings by nine points.

With commanding drives in the opening rounds, Antonelli's performances has garnered praise from many in the F1 world, with Russell even admitting the 19-year-old has made the "perfect start to the year."

Antonelli, however, maintains that he is not thinking just yet about an intra-Mercedes title battle, instead approaching the upcoming races with the same mindset, and focusing on improving his performance "little by little".

Speaking to a select group of media, including GPblog, Antonelli was asked whether he has changed his expectations after the strong start.

Antonelli said: "Well, I mean, definitely, I think it's been a better start than what we all anticipated and hoped for, at least on my side. And I think definitely it's been a very strong start of the season.

"And definitely, expectations automatically, they're a bit different now.

"But I still try to keep the same mindset that as I had in the in the previous three races in the first three races just trying to keep focusing on what I have to do, on the goal, and just trying to put myself in the best position possible to then achieve a great result."

The young Italian stressed the importance of not getting ahead of himself, wary of the strong potential of not only Russell, but also Mercedes' competitors such as Ferrari and McLaren.

"What I don't want to do now that obviously we're in a good position is start to think about the final result or a long-term result.

"So I just really want to focus on the present and how I can maximize every time I go in the car in order to get the best result.

"And yeah, focusing on the process and then little by little trying to raise the bar, raise the game, because obviously, you know, George is super strong and competitors will get closer."

While the championship leader, F1's youngest ever, has admitted he'd much prefer to get back on the track, the enforced April break has allowed him to "realise" what he has achieved so far this season.

"I’m not going to lie, on one side it's been good, but now it’s starting to feel a bit too long, I just really want to go back on track. I did the Pirelli tyre test a couple of days ago, I did some GT driving, trying to stay active during this break.

"It was good to have a bit of time, to reflect on the first races, what has happened, trying to also realise the win, in general everything that has happened.

"It was a good time to reflect on why the weekends went well, what I did well, and where I could have done a little bit better."

The Silver Arrows driver also detailed the training he has been doing, preparing for what will be a busy schedule after F1 returns to the Miami Grand Prix in May.

"I’m pushing quite a lot In the training just to be as fit as possible because then obviously, it's gonna be quite a lot especially at the end of the year, we will have a lot of triple headers.

"So it's going to be important as well on the physical side to make the the best out of this break, to recharge the batteries and also to to get stronger on the physical side in order to be able to maintain a really good physical level during the whole season.

"So yeah, [the break] is starting to feel very long, I really miss racing, but I've been trying to make the best out of it and actually it's been on one side really useful."