Brundle: “Difficult times for Russell. Antonelli treats like Hamilton at his peak”

Did Russell underestimate Antonelli? After the tests confirmed the superiority of Mercedes, the whole paddock expected George Russell to take a single bite out of Kimi Antonelli and the rest of the grid, at least in the first races. And instead in Shanghai and Suzuka it was the Italian who prevailed, while the Briton – although unlucky in several episodes – appeared at least surprised by the pace of his teammate. The impression one gets of Russell is that of a certainly fast and competitive driver, who took advantage of the opportunity to grow at Williams and demonstrated that he knows how to beat Lewis Hamilton: a university tackled brilliantly by a boy who presented himself for his thesis with top marks. Yet, now that he has to discuss it and become champion, he finds himself facing an obstacle that perhaps he had underestimated. This can be understood from some paternalistic and snobbish statements after Antonelli’s results in China: mind games in which, however, Kimi did not fall, to the point of winning again in Suzuka. Where, not surprisingly, Russell’s reaction was very different: not only due to the clearly unfortunate timing of the Safety Car but also because Antonelli demonstrated superior pace when both were in clear air. Brundle’s words According to former driver Martin Brundle, to win the internal challenge Russell must change his mentality and consider Antonelli like Hamilton: “He needs to start from scratch. These are difficult times for George, he will show up in Miami with a gap of nine points from his teammate”, this is the comment of the Briton to his compatriots on Sky Sports UK. “He must treat Kimi as if he were Hamilton at the peak of his career, as if he were a threat to the championship.” “As happened in China, George was attacked on the restart, where he clearly found himself without a battery,” he added. “He was frustrated and lost his head a bit. He had the race under control, he probably would have overtaken Piastri later.”