Unwanted Mercedes streak continues amid “not acceptable” F1 weakness

Mercedes has acknowledged it needs to urgently address its biggest weakness of the 2026 Formula 1 season as its rivals close in.

Race starts continue to be a major problem that has plagued Mercedes throughout the early races of the season, and marked the only real blotch on an otherwise near-perfect campaign.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli has now lost a total of 26 places off the line across the opening four grands prix and two sprint races in 2026. At the Miami Grand Prix, he dropped six places in the sprint, and a further two from pole position in Sunday’s main race.

That didn’t stop Antonelli claiming a record-breaking third consecutive victory as Mercedes made it four wins from four races. But following the chequered flag, the Italian teenager admitted the German manufacturer’s ongoing start woes are “not acceptable”.

“Today to be fair was not as bad. I think I lost two places, Sprint I lost six, so a little bit better. But still, no, it’s not acceptable,” Antonelli said.

“I think especially in a weekend like this, that the gaps are a lot closer, it can really change the race. In the Sprint, procedure-wise it was good, but just the grip level that we thought there was, was just not there.

“For sure mainly from me, because I’m still a little bit inconsistent, especially on clutch drop. But I still don’t have that confidence, being consistent with that. I still have a bit of uncertainty, so it’s a big point that needs to be improved.

“But I think today I managed it better than yesterday. Yesterday I was very frustrated and today I just kept it a bit cool, a bit better, and just managed to move on and focus about the race.”

A Mercedes car has failed to lead a lap at any of the races in which it has claimed pole position so far this season. 

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff removed the blame from Antonelli and admitted the Silver Arrows need to “dig even deeper” to find a cure as the competition intensifies.

“It's not at all on him [Antonelli],” Wolff told media including Crash.net. “I think today and yesterday was a team mistake. And it's just, we all know, it's just not good enough.

“We're not doing a good enough job in giving them [the drivers] a tool in their hands, whether it's clutch or grip estimates.

“We are the only ones who, let's say, don't get that right now for a few races. And we just have to dig even deeper to try to understand how we can fix that, because the gaps are not big enough to cruise into the sunset. Therefore you can’t be missing starts.”