Allison: Antonelli’s bold adjustments were a major source of his 2026 pace

James Allison says Kimi Antonelli’s willingness to make bold adjustments to brake migration and the differential was a major part of the pace he found from his car during his 2026 championship season. Antonelli clinched the title at the Mexican Grand Prix aged 20, in only his second season in Formula 1.

Speaking on the NU Silver Arrows Radio Show, Mercedes technical director Allison described Antonelli as highly agile with the two systems. Brake migration changes how braking force is shared between the front and rear as a corner unfolds. When the car understeers, Allison said, Antonelli uses the differential and brake migration to help it turn more readily; if it feels too lively, he adjusts them to calm it.

Allison said Antonelli is willing to use quite extreme settings himself, trusting his ability to keep the car under control to the apex. He identified the braking-to-apex phase as where Antonelli finds most of his lap time, and said the approach makes him adaptable as conditions change.

Allison also linked the corner-entry technique to tyre management. He pointed to the point roughly 20 laps into a race, when he said other cars had pitted but Antonelli’s lap times remained level, and credited the driver’s work on entry with avoiding damage to the rear tyres.