Andrea Kimi Antonelli has revealed the new Formula 1 regulations have caused a lack of synergy between the simulator and the car, having taken part in last week’s Barcelona shakedown.
The Italian is heading into his second season in F1, once again teaming up with George Russell at Mercedes, the pair clocking up the miles in last week’s behind-closed-doors test.
Antonelli, like all the drivers on the grid this year, is getting to grips with the new cars which encompass the new technical ruleset that threatens to significantly shake up the sport for the first time in many years.
Towards the back end of 2025, many drivers gave their initial takes on the new cars, having run early simulator programmes based upon them, and there had been an occasional air of slight displeasure.
But having now got behind the wheel of the Brackley-based squad‘s W17 for real, Antonelli, speaking to media including Motorsport Week, identified the anomaly between the two, and said work is now underway to bring it closer to reality.
“Yeah, I think, as I said before, the car feels nice,” he said, when asked by Motorsport Week about his initial feelings. “Obviously, on the sim, prior to trying out the car properly on the track, the feeling was a bit different than the actual car in real life.
“Actually, the car, once I went on track for the first time, felt quite a bit better than how I felt on the sim. But, of course, now on the sim, we’re doing a lot of work, especially after Barcelona, trying to correlate it, you know, coming with a fresh mind, fresh memory from the actual car.
“You know, we were doing a lot of work trying to help the sim guys to correlate it the best way possible because, obviously, before it was kind of a guess, you know, with the feeling and handling of the car.
“But now that we actually drove it, it’s going to be much easier to tell where to work on the sim. But going back to your question, the car, on my side, despite having very little experience, it does feel a bit nicer to drive compared to last year’s.”
‘More like a racing car’ – Antonelli breaks down some intricacies of ‘fun’ 2026 car
The ground-effect era was largely unpopular with drivers on the grid, and many were outspoken in their happiness of them now being something of the past.
2026’s cars provide new challenges that drivers won’t be used to, with increased energy conservation and new power unit and aerodynamic overtaking aids that have replaced DRS.
Antonelli broke down some characteristics that he is not used to, offering a positive verdict, saying it has been “good fun so far”.
“Of course, in high speed, there’s a bit of a difference compared to last year’s car. But other than that, the car feels more like a racing car. So, a bit more agile,” he explained.
“Also, the downforce curve is much flatter. If last year, we had very little downforce in low speed and massive downforce in high speed, this year it’s a bit more linear. So, on that side, it’s nicer.
“And also the fact that you don’t need to run it as stiff. The car is more predictable when driving.
“So, yeah, I think as a baseline, you know, the new regulation has been good and has given good feeling. And it’s been good fun so far to drive it.”
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