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Kimi Antonelli made a statement of purpose after winning his third consecutive race in the 2026 F1 season at the Miami Grand Prix. The Italian said that this purple patch is "just the beginning" of his career, with the expectations of a lot more to come.
Antonelli made history in Miami on Sunday as he became the first driver ever to win his first three F1 races from pole position. The teenager has converted poles to victory in China, Japan and now Miami, and has now taken a 20 point lead at the top of the drivers' standings, ahead of his teammate George Russell.
Former F1 world champion Jenson Button, who was conducting the post-race interview in Miami, made Antonelli aware of his historical feat, as the driver shared a prophetic statement in response, saying:
"I mean, this is just the beginning. The road is still long, but we're working super hard, and the team is doing an incredible job, and without them, I wouldn't be here. So mainly thanks to them, to my family," "And, yeah, I'm gonna enjoy this one, and then get back to work, because Canada is in (three) weeks time."Kimi Antonelli's teammate and main championship contender for the time being, George Russell, secured an underwhelming P5 finish, which also only came about thanks to a last lap incident for Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque went from P4 to P6 thanks to damage to his front left tire, being overtaken by Russell and Max Verstappen at the final sequence of corners of the race.
This result now means that Mercedes has secured the win at all four races in 2026, with Antonelli taking three of them. The Silver Arrows were caught by the chasing pack in Miami, but await upgrades on their car come Canada.
Kimi Antonelli at the Miami GP - Source: Getty
Kimi Antonelli claimed that he was "lucky" at the Miami GP race start to not collide with anybody as he held on a decent front running spot even though he lost the race lead to Charles Leclerc. The 19-year-old also acknowledged the Mercedes strategy team for putting him in a position to undercut Lando Norris and take the race lead again in the pits.
Speaking in the post-race interview, Antonelli said:
"The start was not as bad as yesterday, it was a little bit better. I didn't expect Charles to break that early, so to avoid him obviously I locked up. And then I was a bit lucky with what happened in Turn 2." "But then the pace was strong. I was able to stay close, and then the team did a great strategy. We did a massive undercut, and then we managed to bring it home, even though it was not easy."Antonelli also mentioned that he made a mistake with his energy management during the intial phase of the race, which led to Lando Norris overtaking him. But in the end, the aggressive pit stop strategy was enough to help him secure the win over the reigning world champion.
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Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli
