- Antonelli leads the championship standings as youngest leader in racing history.
- Russell remains focused on his own performance despite teammate’s early success.
- Toto Wolff warns Antonelli to stay humble and avoid distraction from title talk.
The season has just begun, and the championship battle is gradually intensifying. Two races into the season, Russell initially led the championship, living up to expectations as a title favourite among fans.
However, Antonelli’s current form has provided strong competition, with the lead being snatched away in the third race at Suzuka, stamping the Italian’s name in the history books as the youngest championship leader. He currently stands at 72 points, with his teammate being 9 points away from him.
For Antonelli, after securing back-to-back wins and securing key career milestones in two races, people have started buzzing about his championship talks. Earlier, Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff had appreciated Antonelli’s talent; however, he strongly believes that such talks this early don’t help a young driver like him to grow and improve. He advised that Antonelli should be careful not to get carried away by such buzz and stay humble.
Russell opens up about championship fight with Antonelli
In a recent conversation, the Briton revealed that he’s well aware that the Miami Grand Prix last year proved to be fruitful for his teammate, but that thought isn’t pressurising him. This is because he knows that there are other tracks where he’s more dominant. He adds that a championship is decided by a whole season and not by one-by-one races; therefore, he is currently more focused on maximising his points over the remaining season, and that’s what matters to him at the moment.
“That is my goal. That is what I’m confident in achieving over the course of the championship. Consistency, good results on the bad days, victory on the good days, and that is going to continue to be my goal every single weekend, he elaborated. Revealing that he’s currently locked in his own lane, he said, “So, as I said, I’m not thinking about Kimi, I’m not thinking about the championship. I’m focused on myself.” Russell also wants to work on improving specific areas to bring good results.
Antonelli wants to keep it “grounded” as championship talks ring
Antonelli shared that while he’s currently in a good position, he doesn’t want to spend his time thinking about the long-term outcome. He acknowledged the growing support from the audience following his two recent wins, but even with it, he isn’t feeling “more pressure.”
“I know expectations are higher because I’m coming from two wins and a strong start to the season. But I keep my focus on the process and what I have to do, I don’t want to put too much emphasis on the final result. I feel the same pressure that I felt at the start of the season,” he elaborated.
At the moment, he wants to stay “grounded” and is determined to work towards the ultimate goal. It remains to be seen what direction the fight heads as F1 returns at the Miami Grand Prix after the April short break.
