During a Pro Racing Motorsport event, f1-news.eu interviewed 2002 250cc world champion Marco Melandri. Formula 1, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari were among the main topics of this conversation, along with Melandri’s own experience on four wheels.
Hi Marco, what is your view on the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship?
“The reality is that the races in this 2026 season are actually quite entertaining and I enjoy them. But the idea of having so many variables that the driver cannot control does not appeal to me. In Miami they changed a few things, they reduced a bit of power from the electric side. It was done to avoid the sudden collapse of the electric deployment, but in Japan we saw some really dangerous scenes. A driver having to push hard by trying to drive slower just seems like a contradiction in the world of racing.”
At this moment, Ferrari or Andrea Kimi Antonelli?
“I come from the world of motorcycles and there you tend to support the rider more than the bike itself. Unfortunately, I support Kimi Antonelli if I have to choose. Maybe it is easy now because he is winning, but I like his attitude, his enthusiasm, and the fact that he is almost shy and out of place in the car, yet very determined and confident over team radio when he is driving. I hope he continues like this, strongly, and brings the Italian tricolour to the top, because Ferrari has been promising for years and then not delivering. Now there is someone who makes us stay in front of the TV.”
How do you see this Ferrari?
“Realistically speaking, I believe 2026 could be difficult. We started the winter with good hopes and things looked positive, but we saw in Miami how everyone brought upgrades and Ferrari was the team that lost out on track. Red Bull and McLaren seem to have made a big step forward. Ferrari, on the other hand, almost looks like it has gone backwards. Charles Leclerc did miracles with a great start and a strong early battle, but tyre management was missing. Hamilton has lost motivation compared to the opening races, which shows that there is no clear idea on how to develop the car. I don’t know, I see the situation as quite difficult.”
“Leclerc is doing miracles. After many difficult years you expect the following season to be the breakthrough one, but it is not. He continues to deliver incredible motivation and performances, like that start. Full respect for him.”
Not everyone knows that you also had a season in four-wheel racing in your career…
“In 2009 I raced in a championship in the United Arab Emirates called Speedcar, which were basically detuned NASCAR-style cars, and it was a beautiful series. Liuzzi was also racing at the time and he gave me a lot of advice. He told me: ‘When you brake, always breathe. You cannot see the wheels and you do not understand when you are locking up, but at a certain point the tyres will start to burst, you smell burning, and then you release the brake.’”
“I was in a team with Frentzen, there were Alesi and Villeneuve, Herbert, Morbidelli, many extremely strong drivers. It was very nice. I led a race but with four laps to go I broke the gearbox and I ended up fighting with world-class drivers I used to see only on TV.”
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