Antonelli calls for more from Mercedes after Friday running

(opens in a new tab)Sign InSubscribeF1ScheduleResultsStandingsDriversTeamsF1 UnlockedOpen menuFIA if(window.f1MobileDetection.iOSSafari) { var meta = document.createElement("meta"); meta.name = "apple-itunes-app"; meta.content = "app-id=835022598, app-argument=https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-calls-for-more-from-mercedes-after-friday-running-before-belgian-grand-prix.6bTSZIz11lexXsHuDeuSCc.6bTSZIz11lexXsHuDeuSCc"; document.head.appendChild(meta); } {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-calls-for-more-from-mercedes-after-friday-running-before-belgian-grand-prix.6bTSZIz11lexXsHuDeuSCc","url":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-calls-for-more-from-mercedes-after-friday-running-before-belgian-grand-prix.6bTSZIz11lexXsHuDeuSCc","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-calls-for-more-from-mercedes-after-friday-running-before-belgian-grand-prix.6bTSZIz11lexXsHuDeuSCc","datePublished":"2026-07-17T17:49:57.379Z","dateModified":"2026-07-17T17:49:57.379Z","headline":"Kimi Antonelli calls for more from Mercedes after Friday running before 2026 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix","author":"F1","description":"Kimi Antonelli believes \"there's still a lot of work to do as a team\", despite the Italian and Mercedes finishing fastest in Friday practice ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://media.formula1.com/image/upload/t_16by9Centre/f_auto/q_auto/v1783169001/trackside-images/2026/F1_Grand_Prix_of_Great_Britain___Sprint__Qualifying/2284609923.jpg"},"isAccessibleForFree":"true","publisher":{"@type":"SportsOrganization","@id":"https://www.formula1.com#organization","name":"Formula 1","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.formula1.com/etc/designs/fom-website/social/f1-default-share.jpg","width":"480","height":"120"}}}Kimi AntonelliGeorge RussellMercedesShow more tagsAntonelli calls for more from Mercedes after Friday running before Belgian Grand PrixKimi Antonelli finished with the fastest time on Friday after Mercedes found more performance over the course of the day. Kimi Antonelli believes "there's still a lot of work to do as a team", despite the Italian and Mercedes finishing fastest in Friday practice ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix. The teenager enters this weekend with a 25-point lead in the Drivers' standings and finished as the fastest driver in Free Practice 2. It marked a turnaround for Mercedes, as both Antonelli and Russell struggled for performance in the opening one-hour practice session at Spa. "We made big changes with the car and it was a lot better, so that's a good direction," said Antonelli, who was only sixth fastest in FP1 after complaining the car was edgy. "Of course, there's still a lot of work to do as a team and as well with my driving. Was a much better session and now looking forward to tomorrow." Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin admitted that the team had opted for a setup with not enough downforce in FP1, and that "both of [the drivers] found it a bit of a handful in the first session." But while Antonelli was able to lead the times in the second session, Russell continued to struggle and finished P8 once again, but this time 1.2 seconds slower than his team mate and title rival. "I don't think that gap is representative of what George is capable of," said Shovlin. "It wasn't a great lap, there's a couple of little issues that we need to pick into but he had only had one go at it. "You can see a few places where he's under hit it and I think with such a tricky first session, it didn't leave them with great preparation for the second session. "There's plenty we can see that will be relatively easy for him to solve on the data, I'm fairly sure he will be far closer tomorrow, if not a threat." Download the Official F1 AppYour ultimate companion into
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