Kimi Antonelli impresses the entire paddock at the start of the 2026 season. But despite his current dominance, Guenther Steiner fears a very specific scenario that could tip the championship battle.
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At only 19 years old, Kimi Antonelli continues to shake up the hierarchy in Formula 1. The young Mercedes driver is having an exceptional start to the season and is now establishing himself as the main contender for the world title.
Thanks to three consecutive wins, the Italian now has a twenty-point lead over his teammate George Russell in the drivers’ championship.
Since the Chinese Grand Prix, Antonelli seems to have made an impressive leap in terms of confidence and control. In Miami, he even outperformed Russell fairly, both in qualifying and race pace.
A momentum that is starting to convince several bookmakers to make the young Mercedes driver the new favorite for the world title.
Steiner mentions the Oscar Piastri precedent
Despite this rapid rise, Guenther Steiner prefers to remain cautious about Antonelli’s championship chances.
The former Haas boss believes the season is still long and mainly fears a psychological drop similar to what Oscar Piastri experienced last season.
The McLaren driver then seemed perfectly on track for the title before several difficult events after the summer break completely broke his momentum.
“To say it’s already his championship to lose? He still has to win it,” Steiner reminds on the Red Flags podcast.
The Italian manager nevertheless acknowledges that Antonelli currently gives the impression of being completely unshakable under pressure.
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“He shows all the signs of a driver who is not disturbed by what is happening around him.”
The big concern: managing difficult moments
Steiner’s main question now concerns how Antonelli will react when things start to get complicated.
Because so far, the Mercedes driver has had an almost perfect start to the season, with a competitive car and extremely solid results. But a championship fight is also built during tougher periods.
“What worries me most is that he might encounter some problems and lose his composure a bit, like Oscar did last year,” explains Steiner.
“Before the summer break, Oscar seemed totally in control. Then two things happened that he didn’t like, and he lost the championship.”
George Russell already under pressure
Meanwhile, George Russell already seems to be feeling the huge rise of his young teammate. In Miami in particular, Antonelli was superior in almost every area without Russell encountering any major problem that could explain this gap.
For Steiner, this is probably the most impressive signal sent by the young Italian.
“George didn’t really have any issues in Miami, so there wasn’t much to explain that,” he points out. “Even in qualifying, Kimi was better. He’s doing a really remarkable job.”
If Antonelli now manages to maintain this mental stability throughout the season, Mercedes could well have its next world champion… despite his very young age.
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