The stats showing how Antonelli has stepped up in 2026

Kimi Antonelli has firmly established himself as a championship contender in his sophomore season with Mercedes, demonstrating significant performance growth since his 2025 rookie campaign. Data analysis reveals that while Antonelli frequently trailed teammate George Russell in his debut year, he has successfully closed and even reversed that gap in 2026, notably outpacing the experienced Briton at seven rounds so far. The most dramatic shift occurred at circuits like Belgium, where he turned a significant deficit into a substantial performance advantage. When benchmarked against his 2025 rookie peers, Antonelli's progression stands out as the most impressive. While drivers like Franco Colapinto have narrowed their gaps to teammates and Oliver Bearman has further extended his lead over Esteban Ocon at Haas, Antonelli has achieved the largest swing in performance relative to his teammate. Meanwhile, Gabriel Bortoleto has seen a slight regression in his pace gap compared to Nico Hulkenberg at Audi, rounding out a fascinating look at the development of the 2025 class.