Antonelli links Mercedes gains to upgrade progress

Autosport and Motorsport.com reported Andrea Kimi Antonelli linked Mercedes' recent gains to its upgrade work after his reported Austin pole.

Autosport and Motorsport.com reported that Andrea Kimi Antonelli said Mercedes is starting to see the benefit of its recent upgrade work after his reported pole position for the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Both outlets said Antonelli was ahead of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar in qualifying, framing that result as a sign Mercedes is making progress with a package that had been difficult to understand.

Autosport also reported that Mercedes had been trying to unlock a major update first introduced in Malaysia at Sepang, and that the Singapore weekend gave the team its first clearer clues on how to use it after the revised car proved harder to drive. Antonelli arrived at this point in the 2026 season leading the drivers' championship on 365 points; across 33 Formula 1 starts, the Mercedes driver has five wins, five poles and 10 podiums, while Mercedes has 138 wins and eight titles over 19 seasons.