Kimi Antonelli is the current leader of the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship. Despite having already claimed four victories at the wheel of the Mercedes W17, the Italian driver has shown a recurring weakness: the getaway at the start. To help him resolve this issue, the Brackley squad has taken action by introducing a targeted upgrade specifically for the Canadian Grand Prix.
The steering wheel intervention: software and clutch paddle
We are talking about a dual and significant update aimed at optimizing the start procedures. The first operation involved the electronics, with a profound overhaul of the control software, which the engineers reprogrammed to maximize performance when the lights go out.
The second novelty, strictly mechanical and ergonomic in nature, involved the steering wheel: the clutch paddle was redesigned to guarantee the driver a more intuitive, fluid, and precise release. However, analyzing the two starts during the Montreal weekend, this fix does not seem to have yielded the expected results.
The most obvious evidence was seen in Sunday’s race: despite being on intermediate tyres, Lando Norris’s McLaren managed to out-drag and dive down the inside of both Mercedes cars in the mere 250 meters that separate the front grid slots from the braking zone into Turn 1.
Mercedes: the aerodynamic package and analogies with the past
After the first five Grands Prix of the season, the track’s verdict is unequivocal: Mercedes’ strength does not lie solely in the supremacy of its power unit. The German single-seater has indeed proven to be extremely refined across all its macro-areas.
Despite boasting the best propulsive thrust of the grid, the Brackley-based team must watch its back against increasingly fierce competition. McLaren, equipped with the same power unit, has already triumphed in the Sprint Race and put the Silver Arrows under pressure on several occasions.
In parallel, Ferrari and Red Bull are also making significant progress, which could translate into a concrete performance leap thanks to the FIA derogation regarding the ADUO, which the International Federation will make official during the Monte Carlo weekend.
Precisely to counter the advance of its rivals, Mercedes has introduced an upgrade package. In addition to interventions on the front wing and the delicate bargeboard area, the meticulous work carried out on the floor—specifically in the area preceding the rear wheels—and on the diffuser is of immense technical interest.
However, the solution implemented on the extractor cannot be defined as entirely unprecedented in the Formula 1 landscape. Rather, it is a clever double evolution of aerodynamic concepts already explored in the past by Red Bull.
The bulges on the upper surface of the floor and the jagged profile of the diffuser’s trailing edge indeed recall, almost explicitly, the aerodynamic identities developed in Milton Keynes for the old RB13 and RB16B.
