Kimi Antonelli predicts ‘important’ signs from F1 rivals after Mercedes’ Miami GP upgrade decision

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli believes Mercedes can now gain a good understanding of how long their dominance can last, after taking limited upgrades to the Miami Grand Prix.

The Formula 1 paddock have finally regrouped after the five-week break in the calendar due to the cancellations of the rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Such a long gap has given the 11 teams in the field this year the chance to develop and refine their first upgrade packages.

But Antonelli has now revealed upon arriving in Florida that Mercedes will only have a small set of updates for the Miami GP. The Brackley bunch have instead decided to delay debuting their first major upgrade package until the Canadian Grand Prix next time out on May 22-24.

McLaren have also decided to split their first major upgrade package over the next two races in Miami and Canada. In contrast, Ferrari are confident about their major update package in Miami helping them edge closer to Mercedes, who have been the class of the field this year.

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Kimi Antonelli expects Mercedes’ rivals to offer an ‘important signal’ with their Miami GP upgrades

Mercedes duo George Russell and Antonelli have scored every Grand Prix and F1 Sprint pole position and victory so far in the 2026 season. Antonelli also leads Russell by just nine points atop the drivers’ standings after three rounds, with a further 14-point gap to Charles Leclerc.

READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 Miami GP, including the Sprint, plus weather forecast

So, with Mercedes only taking a small proportion of their upgrades to Miami, Antonelli feels whatever progress their rivals can make will be an “important signal” for how long the Silver Arrows can stay at the front of the field with the fixes they identified during the recent gap.

“We’ve figured out where to fix things,” Antonelli said, via Motorsport.com. “But we won’t have the new features this weekend. We’ll find a compromise.

“The improvements will come in Montreal. It will be an interesting weekend, because I think all our rivals will be on track with significant updates.

“This could make our weekend more difficult. But at the same time, if we manage to stay ahead, it will be an important signal for the team. In any case, we know that our time will come to implement the developments on the car.”

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Ferrari and McLaren were Mercedes’ main rivals through the first three rounds in Australia, China and Japan. But neither team could lay a glove on the Silver Arrows when Antonelli or Russell ran in clean air, which Ferrari and McLaren will hope is no longer the case in Miami.

Russell won the Australian GP ahead of Antonelli with a 15.519-second margin over Leclerc of Ferrari, as the best non-Mercedes driver in third place. Ferrari racer Lewis Hamilton also headed the rest of the field in P3 during the Chinese GP, with a 25.267s deficit to Antonelli.

Antonelli also pulled a 13.722s margin over McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to win the Japanese GP after snatching the lead thanks to him pitting under the safety car at Suzuka. Russell could only finish P4 at Suzuka, after he struggled to get through the traffic to beat Leclerc for P3.