Antonelli Falls to P6 in Miami Sprint — F1 Standings 2026
Kimi Antonelli fell from second on the grid to sixth in the Miami Grand Prix Sprint, and the five-second penalty for repeated track limits breaches turned a shaky opening lap into a costly result for the Mercedes driver in f1 standings 2026. George Russell’s fourth place cut Antonelli’s championship lead from nine points to seven.
Antonelli Loses Ground At Turn 1
Antonelli started Saturday’s 19-lap encounter in second, then dropped to fourth at Turn 1 behind Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc. That left him trying to recover from the opening corners before the penalty reshaped the finish.
After the Sprint, he was hit with five seconds for exceeding track limits on multiple occasions, which pushed him to P6. He said the start compromised the race and added that the pace was not too bad at the end.
Mercedes Fight A Low-Grip Circuit
Toto Wolff said the bad getaway was not at all Antonelli’s fault but an issue on Mercedes’ side. He also said Mercedes were a little out of sync with their upgrades compared to other teams, even though the team was close to the pace at the front in pure lap times.
George Russell said fourth was the maximum Mercedes could have achieved across the 100-kilometre dash. He added that he did not think he could have done more than the result he got on Saturday, while also describing Miami as a very low-grip circuit where the cars were sliding around a lot.
Russell Takes Fourth, Antonelli Tries Again
Russell’s inherited fourth place mattered in the standings picture because it trimmed Antonelli’s advantage from nine points to seven. That kept the margin alive, but it also showed how quickly one poor start and one penalty can change the shape of a title fight.
Antonelli said, “Yeah, the start to be fair, on procedure it was all good. We need to check what happened, because the [clutch] drop was good.” He also said, “On my side, for once I did everything right, so it was a shame to again have a really bad start. It just compromised the race.”
With the Sprint done, Russell said, “This afternoon [in Qualifying for the Grand Prix] I’ll do my best again.” Antonelli, meanwhile, goes into the rest of the Miami weekend having already lost four places from his starting spot and another place to the penalty.
