Allison reveals the steering-wheel trick that powered Antonelli to F1's youngest-ever title

Kimi Antonelli became Formula 1’s youngest world champion at the Mexican Grand Prix this season, and Mercedes technical director James Allison has now explained the precise on-car technique that underpinned the 20-year-old Italian’s title-winning campaign — an unusually bold manipulation of brake migration and differential settings that few drivers are willing to push to such extremes.

Speaking on the NU Silver Arrows Radio Show, Allison described Antonelli as “very, very adventurous” in the way he uses the tools on his steering wheel to reshape the car’s handling in real time. “If he has a car that’s understeering in a way that he doesn’t like, he will free it up with the diff and the brake migration to allow it to turn even if it doesn’t particularly want to,” Allison said. “And the contrary, when it feels too lively, he will close it down so that it is less so.”

The key, Allison stressed, is not that Antonelli does something unique in principle — every driver on the grid adjusts these parameters — but the sheer scale of the adjustments he is prepared to make, and his confidence in managing the consequences. “Kimi is very adventurous with it. He’s willing to go to quite extreme settings on it and do it under his own steam, trusting that he will have the control to keep the car pointed nicely to the apex. And that has been a large part of the pace that he has got from the car this year.”

Allison identified the braking zone as the defining phase of Antonelli’s lap. “From the moment he hits the brakes to the apex is mostly where he is taking the lap time, and he does all that with a minimum of fuss. It makes him very flexible with the car from condition to condition, and it’s been really impressive to watch.”

That precision on entry also translates into exceptional tyre management, which has been a recurring theme across Antonelli’s nine race victories in 2026. “If you want to see the standout performances of Kimi this year, it’s 20 laps in when everyone else has peeled into the pits and his lap times just go level,” Allison said. “He does it over and over and over, and he just does not damage the rear tyres because of all the work he’s doing on the entry.”

Allison also touched on the relationship between Antonelli and race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington, describing a level of mutual trust that has smoothed the 20-year-old’s rapid adaptation to the top of the sport. According to Allison, Antonelli’s approach to strategy discussions is straightforward: “I trust you. You do what you think is right, and I’ll try and work with what I get.” Allison added that Bonnington “would probably tell you that it’s been one of the most pleasurable seasons he’s had.”