As the paddock disperses for its traditional mid-season three-week break, the race is on to catch Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes came into the season as favourites and have lived up to the billing. Their car has been dominant with eight wins from 11 meetings, a strike rate greater perhaps even than the team had expected. Despite the rather skewed conclusions of the Aduo engine assessment, which declared the Red Bull the cream of the crop (on the basis of internal combustion output rather than overall capacity) the Mercedes power unit as a whole, including the hybrid electrical element that is now so vital, is without doubt the class of the field.
They have been challenged, not least by Ferrari, and pushed hard on occasion by Red Bull and McLaren, but have repeatedly shown that when given a run in clean air, out of a fight, and allowed to use their electrical deployment at its maximum efficiency, the car is fearsomely hard to catch. Moreover, they have now demonstrated that superiority over most types of circuit. They are leading the constructors’ championship from Ferrari by 72 points, and reliability problems have been their only difficulty. Another title appears to be within their grasp.
The car’s potential has been exploited brilliantly by Kimi Antonelli, with the Italian teenager coming good on his innate talent with an alacrity and composure after only one season in the formula that has been extraordinary to witness. The 19-year-old has stepped up to the new regulations and to competing at the front with striking skill and an assurance that belies his age. Five successive wins and then another in Spa proved not only that he can close out but is fearless. He has been overeager and impetuous on occasion but anything else from one so young might be disappointing. As the team principal, Toto Wolff, said, he would rather rein in a charger than take a stick to a donkey. Even at the times he has not been leading, his precocious talent has helped him challenge at every opportunity. Antonelli is the real deal and, leading by 50 points from Lewis Hamilton, is on course to take the world championship. On this form it may well be the first of many.
In stark contrast, Antonelli’s teammate George Russell has been buffeted from pillar to post and a chance to refocus over the summer will doubtless be welcome. Russell opened with a win in Australia but it was a false dawn. Antonelli endured energy deployment problems in Melbourne and since then Russell has endured the same difficulty, among many others. He has repeatedly suffered bad luck, not least the anti-stall kicking in at the Hungaroring, but also knows he has often not been quick enough on race day compared with the Italian. Worse still, there appears to be no quick fix. He was ready to take on board that his driving style was at issue but since Belgium that appears not to be the case. Nonetheless, Russell remains optimistic, and onwards and upwards was the attitude according to a post on social media after Spa – by the sounds of which over the summer he might be forgiven for enjoying a whisky drink. A vodka drink, a lager drink and a cider drink. “Knocked down, we get back up. No matter how many times,” he wrote. “So many tough moments this year but I will not stop fighting.”
It would have taken a heart of stone not to enjoy watching Lewis Hamilton return to a level of performance much closer to his best. After the worst season of his career in 2025, when an underperforming Ferrari left him jaded and disconsolate, Hamilton has returned with a new lease of life. This year’s cars – lighter, more nimble and without the ground-effect aero – are far more suited to his driving style and he has embraced them. He has developed his relationship with his new team and the Scuderia have brought a competitive car. Hamilton’s win in Barcelona, his first since 2024, showed he had lost none of his competitive edge, a salutary reminder that at 41 he remains a force to be reckoned with. Ferrari have another engine upgrade to come which may yet move them even closer to Mercedes, an enthralling prospect. There is work to be done, as the strategy calls in Hungary demonstrated.
After enormous investment in personnel and infrastructure there has been no shortage of ambition at Aston Martin but the team have endured a savage comedown, having anticipated the genius designer Adrian Newey would be the final piece in their jigsaw. From the first race in Australia, when Newey admitted the car was suffering with vibrations from the Honda engines that were in danger of causing permanent nerve damage to the drivers, Aston have been beset on all sides. Apart from the vibrations – largely solved – the engine remains woefully underpowered, the car was overweight and Newey’s bold aerodynamic approach has produced unexpected problems.
They have 10 retirements, with a highest finish of 10th earning them their solitary point. In Belgium they were almost six seconds off Mercedes’s pole time and two seconds off the team in front of them, Cadillac, who are F1 debutants. Honda’s expected engine upgrade did not come before the summer break and the team opted not to develop the car in favour of a complete overhaul, which made its debut in Hungary.
“Hopefully, we can get at least to a point of respectability now, that is the immediate goal,” Newey said in Budapest, and the B-spec car was a step forward, with Fernando Alonso making it into Q2 for the first time this season. The car looks to have made up about two seconds in pace but a long slog lies ahead.
Originally reported by Guardian Sport.