Kimi Antonelli has targeted winning the 2026 Formula 1 championship following Mercedes’ strong Barcelona pre-season shakedown test.
Following an solid rookie 2025 season, Antonelli is now preparing for his second season in F1, as Mercedes aim to take advantage of a strong shakedown in Barcelona.
The Silver Arrows led the way in terms of mileage under the Spanish sun, clocking an impressive 1,134 laps across its three days of testing.
Should this pace continue at the first official pre-season test in Bahrain, Mercedes look set to be the team to beat when the season kicks off in Australia.
Despite his inexperience, Antonelli is hopeful of managing a serious title bid in 2026, bullishly outlining his goals.
“That’s absolutely the goal,” said Antonelli to media about his aims for 2026, including Motorsport Week at the launch of the W17 on Monday.
“The goal is to win and to eventually fight for the world championship.
“So, that’s my goal and the goal is to win and to be one of the best.
“So definitely, that’s what I want and of course, George [Russell] is very, very strong and definitely is ready to fight for a championship and is one of the benchmarks on the grid.
“I think it’s going to be quite fun, especially competing with him and so, yeah, really looking forward to it.”
Toto Wolff cautious of Kimi Antonelli title challenge
Team Principal Toto Wolff has urged caution on a title challenge from the young Italian, citing Antonelli’s mid-season slump, and lowering expectations.
The Mercedes boss said: “Kimi, he’s completely on the trajectory that we’ve always mapped out at the beginning, last year – first year in Formula 1 with this huge circus coming upon him, the obligations with the media, the requests from sponsors and fan fandom and that’s exactly why we had very good performances and then some races where he struggled more.
“So now there’s no doubt about his speed and about his race craft.
“He’s going into his second season, he knows all the tracks, he knows all of you guys, he knows most of the other requirements.
“So I’m absolutely certain that it will be a good year for him.
“Having said that, I don’t think we should expect him to be on top, to be like George all the time.
“George is one of the best ones, he’s been in Formula 1 a long time.
READ MORE – Kimi Antonelli identifies 2026 F1 simulator anomaly after ‘real life’ shakedown
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