Outperformed in Miami, George Russell fell further behind his teenage team-mate Kimi Antonelli in the F1 title race. It makes the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix vital for his championship hopes, says Mark Hughes, even though there's a long season ahead
A qualifying issue for Russell in Shanghai helped clear the path for the second of Antonelli's three victories so far this season
Although there’s no need for George Russell to panic just yet, four races in and trailing his young team-mate Kimi Antonelli by 20 points at the head of the world championship presents him with a worrying situation.
Given how narrow the window of opportunity can be for a world title, obviously 2026 is Russell’s golden chance. It has taken until his eighth season to get into a title-calibre car. Early in his F1 career, he was frustrated to have been placed by Mercedes at Williams for three years, which he felt was two too many, feeling he could have been doing justice to the title-calibre cars Mercedes was running then. By the time he got his Mercedes chance, the team had fallen into the abyss, lost in a blurred vision of ground effect porpoising as Red Bull and McLaren between them ruled the roost for four years.
Finally, a formula reset and Mercedes comes out the ’26 blocks like it was 2014 all over again. Russell may have occasionally pondered just how lucky his team-mate Kimi Antonelli was to get such a car in only his second season of F1. But he’d comfortably outperformed the rookie last year and ’26 surely was his for the taking. And it may still be. But already 20 points behind a team-mate who’s just won three consecutive races and beat him by over half a minute and three places in Miami? Compounding that problem, Miami suggested that the Mercedes is no longer dominant, merely competitive.
Psychologically, Miami was surely devastating. In Melbourne, Russell had a comfortable two/three tenths raw pace advantage over Antonelli. In Shanghai, he was similarly faster but suffered a mechanical glitch in Q3, which allowed Antonelli the pole – and ultimately the victory.
Russell hasn’t outscored Antonelli since Australia
Grand Prix Photo
At that point, Russell would have felt he was still in control of this campaign, that he’d just had a bit of a glitch. Then, Suzuka where Antonelli, confidence high after his maiden pole and win, was genuinely faster for the first time. Then Miami, where he increased that advantage over Russell to a worrying 0.4sec in both sprint and GP qualifying, the foundation for Antonelli’s superb pressure victory while Russell scraped far behind to claim fourth. The direction of competitive travel between them, Melbourne to Miami in four clear steps, seems clear-cut.
But there are two ways of reading that sequence. One is that it’s a narrative of a young star in the ascendant, establishing an advantage over the more established man. The other is that the sequencing of the tracks just happens to make it look that way, because Suzuka and Miami were also Antonelli’s two stand-out tracks last year.
Russell, accepting that he was being outperformed here, was trying to put a box around the Miami weekend. “When the tarmac is hot, like in Brazil, Kimi was again more competitive than me. I prefer the high-grip conditions where the car is more connected to the ground. I just want to get through this weekend really.”
He’s only 19, but Kimi Antonelli has shown F1 championship-winning pace and may never get a better title shot. The ingredients are there for another historic battle between one experienced team-mate and a thrusting newcomer, says Mark Hughes
By
Mark Hughes
So we next come to Montreal, which has always been a super-happy hunting ground for Russell. The big heavy-braking demands into slow corners and cool, abrasive track surface seem to resonate well with his driving style. So psychologically, the stakes are high. He’s the one under pressure while his carefree young team-mate, of whom less is expected, has been just turning up and destroying the field.
If Russell cannot dampen Antonelli’s momentum in Canada of all tracks, the scale of his challenge changes dramatically.
It’s still early-season, of course, and there will be twists and turns aplenty in store. We cannot know yet exactly what we have just witnessed, but if Russell wants this title, he has a fight on his hands. A fight which looks like it could feature McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull too given how well each of their upgrades worked in Miami.
This is as stern a test of Russell’s mental strength as any he has faced so far. Don’t bet against him, but don’t underestimate just what a phenomenon Antonelli is either.
