The Mercedes Formula 1 team believes it has found the root cause of its ongoing race start issue, but has warned that a cure for the problem won’t be straightforward.

Mercedes has enjoyed a near-perfect start to the 2026 season, winning each of the three opening races in Australia, China and Japan prior to the enforced five-week break in April after the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix due to the Iran War.

However, poor starts have become a trend for Mercedes in 2026 and has proven to be its biggest weakness so far. Despite locking out the front row of the grid at every round, a Mercedes driver has failed to lead into Turn 1 this year.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli revealed Mercedes has made progress with identifying what he described as being a “fundamental” issue, but admitted there isn't a quick fix. 

“We’ve been doing some practice starts, of course, in the break,” Antonelli explained ahead of the Miami Grand Prix. “I’ve been working with the team to try and recognise the issue and we seem to have found it. Now we’re trying to think about a solution as soon as possible.

“We know what to work on for the solution. It’s not going to be that straightforward, because it’s a decent change on the clutch paddle, a little on the hand positioning as well. We’re doing our best to find that solution as soon as possible in order to do decent starts.

“Definitely we recognise that my issue was much more fundamental. We’ll see in Miami if we can do a step forward, and then we have another break after Miami, so more time to work on it and to find that solution.”

With a raft of regulation changes coming into play, and rival teams Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull set to unleash major upgrades, Antonelli is wary about Mercedes’ chances in Miami.

“It’s going to be a very interesting weekend for us,” the Italian teenager said.

“We’re not really bringing anything, to be fair, just very small things, whilst other teams are bringing big upgrades, such as Ferrari and McLaren. Also Red Bull, they’re bringing an upgrade.

“For sure they’re going to get closer, and we might have to fight quite a bit more this weekend. But we’ll do our best, we’re going to keep our head down. And on my side I’m going to try to maximise the performance in the car and going to try to do my best, and then we’ll see what the result will be.”