- Russell dismisses calls to use mind games against team-mate Antonelli.
- Antonelli leads the championship by 9 points after wins in Shanghai and Suzuka.
- Russell invokes Hamilton’s legacy to explain the champion he intends to become.
George Russell says he will not try to undermine Kimi Antonelli’s confidence, despite the 19-year-old climbing above him in the Formula 1 standings after just three races of the 2026 season.
Russell, 28, made the comments to CNN Sports. He was attending the Watches and Wonders event in Geneva, Switzerland, in his capacity as an IWC Schaffhausen ambassador.
The Briton was responding directly to a suggestion from former F1 driver David Coulthard that he needed to start eroding Antonelli’s self-belief.
The Mercedes driver was unambiguous in his rejection of that idea. He told CNN that he does not need to win through psychological tactics.
The story at Mercedes so far
Russell began the season well, winning the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne and the Chinese Sprint race.
But his Mercedes team-mate Antonelli has since won in Shanghai and Suzuka, and he now leads the championship by nine points.
Antonelli has made history along the way. He became F1’s youngest-ever polesitter at the Chinese Grand Prix and then its youngest-ever championship leader after his win in Japan.
Russell’s run of bad luck has contributed to the gap. He suffered a technical problem during qualifying in Shanghai.
In Suzuka, a setup change backfired, a poorly timed safety car allowed Antonelli to leapfrog him, and a software fault sent his car into an unintended “super clip” mode that cost him another position.
Coulthard’s call for psychological battles
The debate about Russell’s approach was started by Coulthard, who drove for McLaren and Red Bull during his career.
On the Up To Speed podcast, he argued that Russell needed to be more aggressive in how he manages his teammate.
“You don’t want a really confident team-mate,” Coulthard said. “You want a team-mate that’s slightly thinking, ‘Oh, I’m not sure I can beat him in qualifying.'”
Coulthard drew on his own experience of racing within a team.
“Trust me, I know because I had team-mates where I would sit there looking at the lap time in qualifying thinking, ‘I’ve got one more set of tyres. I don’t think I can go any faster.'”
He added that Russell “has to now start eroding that confidence within Kimi,” while keeping a good relationship with the team on the surface.
Russell’s dignified stance
Russell rejected that approach clearly, and he used Lewis Hamilton as a reference point for the kind of champion he wants to be.
Hamilton was his Mercedes team-mate from 2022 to 2024, and Russell beat him in the standings in all but one of those seasons.
“That’s not how I go about my business,” Russell said when asked if he would use mind games to destabilise Kimi Antonelli.
“If I look at somebody like Lewis Hamilton, I think he’s somebody who has won, obviously, a huge amount in his life, and he’s always won in a fair and dignified way,” Russell said.
He also acknowledged that other champions have taken a different path to winning.
“But then, on the flipside, you’ve got other great champions who have won through gamesmanship and whatnot. So, I know what I stand for. I know the sort of person I am. I know what I’m capable of in the race car, and I don’t need to win through any of those means,” he added.
His choice to name Hamilton while leaving the others unnamed said as much as his words did.
Praise for Antonelli, but no panic
Russell spoke warmly about Antonelli’s start to the year. “Kimi’s a fantastic driver,” he said.
“I already got a very good glimpse at how talented and fast he was throughout last year. The start of this year for him has been a dream start to the season.”
But he was firm about the bigger picture. “No championship has ever been won over three races,” he said.
“We can’t take these three races for granted. It doesn’t change how I go about my business. I’m still working so hard to ensure this momentum continues.”
In a separate interview, Russell said the situation had not damaged his working relationship with Antonelli.
“I think we’re both professional. We’ve still got a very good relationship, and it’s something we’re not even talking about within the team,” he said.
With 19 races still to go, nothing is settled. The Mercedes W17 has pulled well clear of the rest of the field, which means the title is likely to be decided between the two Silver Arrows drivers.
Russell has decided that when it is, he will have earned it without the mind games.
