Is Kimi Antonelli the new F1 2026 title favourite?

Mercedes was tipped to dominate F1 2026, but few predicted Kimi Antonelli would emerge as the early title favourite.

A potential key shift was felt at Suzuka. “He might be leaving as the championship favourite,” said McLaren’s Zak Brown of Antonelli ahead of Japanese GP Sunday. Antonelli, arguably, proved Brown right.

Zak Brown teased Kimi Antonelli as ‘title favourite’

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Antonelli went from pole to a maiden grand prix win in China, repeating that feat next time out in Japan.

There was the help from Safety Car after the Italian’s “really stupid” clutch error dropped him to sixth at the start. But, Suzuka was arguably Antonelli’s best race weekend yet in Formula 1.

Even before that, he’d earned pre-race plaudits from Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren.

Oscar Piastri, in his first grand prix start of the season for McLaren, followed Antonelli across the line, 13.7 seconds behind.

Speaking to Channel 4 after qualifying, Brown said: “Congratulations to Kimi. He might be leaving this weekend as the championship favourite.

“He’s doing a great job.”

Kimi Antonelli the title favourite?

A strong case can be made that Antonelli has usurped his teammate George Russell as the F1 2026 title favourite.

He has replaced him at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, establishing a buffer of nine points ahead of Miami.

If we look back to Shanghai, Antonelli may have won the race, but doubts remained over how he truly stacked up against Russell.

Continuing the theme from Melbourne, Russell had been a step ahead until his Q3 gremlins struck. Antonelli was there to pick up the pieces, scoring pole for the Chinese Grand Prix, and scampered away while Russell was slugging it out with the Ferraris.

“So far, George has had the upper hand a little bit,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after the Chinese Grand Prix, “and we didn’t see a real lap in qualifying yesterday.

“And also today, he was clearly on the back foot, and it never came to a head-to-head situation.”

Something changed at Suzuka, though. Antonelli was the one with the upper hand on Russell. Even if we were again cost a pure race comparison between the Mercedes pair, this shift in itself, was significant.

Suddenly, Antonelli gave people a genuine reason to consider him, at the very least, a potent threat to Russell’s title hopes.

More Japanese GP reaction from PlanetF1.com

Japanese GP conclusions: Dodgeball on wheels, Verstappen’s rampage, Russell’s Norris test

Japanese GP 2026 driver ratings: Piastri surge, Bearman crash, and Alonso’s quiet performance

What does Kimi Antonelli think of the title talk?

Like Brown, Antonelli also spoke into the Channel 4 microphone at Suzuka.

Confirmed as a back-to-back and two-time grand prix winner, Antonelli was asked whether he is starting to feel like a genuine F1 2026 title contender, having won two of the three grands prix held so far.

“Yeah, I mean, I know it’s a possibility,” he confirmed, “but I know as well that I need to keep raising the bar, keep raising my game.

“George is going to be back. Competitors are going to get closer.

“So I need to, on my side, do everything perfectly in order to guarantee and put myself in the best position as possible.”

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