George Russell must treat his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli like “Lewis Hamilton in his peak” amid a developing title battle between the pair, according to Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle.
Mercedes have started the season in dominant fashion, winning the first three races, but it is Antonelli who holds a surprise nine-point lead over Russell.
Fortune has favoured the 19-year-old Italian, with the timing of a safety car at the Japanese Grand Prix helping him to leapfrog Russell on his way to a second successive victory, after the Brit had won the season-opener in Australia.
With Antonelli in the early stages of just his second F1 campaign, Russell was installed as a clear title favourite before the season had begun, but the early results suggest the battle between the Silver Arrows drivers could be far more competitive than many had predicted.
Having earned a Mercedes seat in 2022 after spending three years loaned out to Williams, Russell was paired with Lewis Hamilton for three seasons before the seven-time world champion left to join Ferrari in 2025.
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Russell fumes to Toto Wolff over the Mercedes team radio
Speaking on the latest episode of Sky Sports’ The F1 Show podcast, Brundle said: “If I was George, I’d be more concerned after three races than I was at the beginning of the season.
“George did all those hard yards at Williams and spent an extra year or two there, goes to Mercedes, just as they stopped dominating and has to tolerate all that.
“Now they look like they’ve got a championship car and you’d say George has got the upper hand and all of a sudden he’s got to be looking across the garage and thinking, ‘hang on a minute, this is nowhere near certain. I’ve got to beat this teenager yet’. And I think he really has.
“It’s difficult times for George and he’s got to treat Kimi Antonelli just as if he’s Lewis Hamilton in his peak and a threat for the championship.”
How Antonelli has impressed Brundle
Antonelli suffered a blip on the opening weekend of the season when a big crash in final practice almost prevented him from participating in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.
However, he just about made it out on track and produced a solid lap to take second on the grid behind Russell, which was the same order the pair finished the race in.
Brundle said: “When he crashed the car in Melbourne and came straight back, that for me is one of the most telling things that you can see in a young driver as to whether they can just get straight back on it, and he did in Melbourne.”
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Antonelli claims victory at the Japanese GP to win back-to-back races and becomes the youngest-ever to lead the F1 title race
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has played down Antonelli’s championship chances, and while Brundle believes Russell’s experience will tell over the course of the season, he has been highly impressed by the Italian’s pace.
Brundle added: “I remember watching on our show after China when Kimi’s dad and Toto were saying, ‘look, forget championship crusades because he’s got a lot to learn and he will make mistakes’. And I thought that tallied exactly with what I was thinking.
“George is the favourite because there will be wet days and safety-car restarts and all sorts of things where George’s experience will surely play out.
“But watching Kimi in qualifying, in the races, he got lucky on the safety car in Japan, but his pace was mighty.”
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