This one moment at 2026 Sao Paulo GP showed why Kimi Antonelli is champion

Mercedes were declared 2026 F1 Constructors' at the 2026 Sao Paulo GP, being this year’s dominant team.

The German squad just needed to outscore Ferrari by three points in Brazil, and did so easily.

However, angry scenes playing out between Kimi Antonelli and engineers afterwards in the Mercedes garage showed exactly why the Silver Arrows have clinched a title double this year.

Kimi Antonelli’s post-race frustration says it all about Mercedes brilliant 2026

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli finished fourth and fifth at the 2026 Sao Paulo GP, the solid result the team needed ahead of Ferrari to secure the championship.

Only needing to beat the Scuderia by three points, the result was confirmed as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished seventh and ninth respectively.

However, despite Mercedes immediately cracking open the champagne after claiming its second title of 2026, its new Drivers’ champ - crowned last week in Mexico - was far from happy.

Antonelli had snatched the lead from Lando Norris and looked comfortable in front early on in the race, but saw it slip away from after the first round of pit stops. The Italian complained about the balance of the car and even spun off at one point, before rejoining the track and recovering.

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Post-race scene in garage showed why Kimi Antonelli is champion

As highlighted by Sky’s Karun Chandhok, Antonelli immediately wanted to know what had happened and was analysing the data and speaking intensely with his engineers, while his team celebrated all around him.

“We got a snapshot, I think, of why they're successful with Kimi Antonelli,” he said.

“He just came back in, and the [Mercedes] people behind, everyone's celebrating. Obviously, they won the championship, but Kimi had a face like thunder - straight in with Bono [Peter Bonnington, his race engineer] and his performance engineer Stephane [Folio], straight into the data, straight into trying to understand what went wrong today.

“Before they get into the celebration, he's so competitive, and they didn't have a good race today - he wants to know why: Why did I not win this? Why did he spin?

“And I think that's what made him this year, just constantly looking for progress.

“He's wearing the world championship T-shirt, but he's not going to the podium. There's Adam, the communications guy, trying to get him to the podium!”

Antonelli still searching for answer despite another F1 title

Following his third place in Mexico last week, Antonelli became F1’s youngest ever champion this year at 20 years and 68 days. It beat Sebastian Vettel’s 2010 record by 16 years and. With the intensity shown post-race in Brazil, it’s not difficult to see why.

“We need to check something with the geometry of the car, of the rear because I had issue only in left corner,” Antonelli said after the race.

“So, especially at the high speed was when I was feeling it the most, and the rear felt very unstable,

“Even coming into the finish line in the left kink, the rear was very loose, which was weird.

“But it was a very odd feeling, and then obviously when I span, the tyre were gone. All four wheels flat-spotted, and only when I put the second set [of tyres on], we got back the pace. But yeah, was a shame.”