Derby Mercedes, Herbert: “Antonelli has a better relationship with Wolff than Russell”

Two-way challenge In the first three races of the 2026 season the dominant force on the track was Mercedes. The results obtained so far by the W17s suggest that the race for the title will be restricted – barring sensational upheavals in the values ​​of the single-seaters – to just Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. Before the start of the championship one would have expected that the Englishman would be able to take just one bite of his young teammate, but in two of the three GPs contested it was Antonelli who beat Russell, both in qualifying and in the race. The very fast talent from Bologna is also receiving numerous acclaim within the team and is seen a bit as the ‘godson’ by mechanics and engineers. A psychological aspect not to be underestimated, especially in view of a derby for the title between him and Russell. Former driver Johnny Herbert, now a popular commentator and commentator, spoke to the Vision4Sport website about the internal challenge in the silver arrows’ garage, underlining how Russell needs to react to reaffirm his role within the team. Toto’s favorite “George has only a one-year contract – observed Herbert – and sometimes it’s not pleasant to have the feeling that Kimi is the favourite. And then you hear all those rumors about Max [Verstappen]. The only way to prevent this is to win the championship. George has to work hard within his little ecosystem to make sure he’s doing the right things for everyone, so that everyone thinks, ‘We trust him. He is extremely reliable and we need him.’ “He must try to overturn the situation to regain power within the team – added Herbert, who knows a thing or two about cumbersome teammates having shared the Benetton garage for the entire 1995 season with Michael Schumacher – Kimi is the emerging one and probably has a slightly better relationship with Toto. George might sense all this, but sometimes it’s a good thing. He might think: ‘To hell with it, I’ll show what I’m capable of. I’ll beat your protégé’. Sometimes this is the reality and that’s why a driver must take responsibility for his own situation. He must work hard and try to make things go in his favor, avoiding making the mistakes we saw in Japan and which Toto mentioned. These things cannot happen.”