Is Russell/Antonelli a stronger duo than Verstappen/Lawson in '25?

At the start of a new year, it is invariably time for the lists: Who will be champion in Formula 1? Which driver will disappoint? Which team will take the constructors' title? Or: Which team has the strongest line-up? To zoom in on that last question: Does Mercedes have a stronger pair of drivers than Red Bull Racing?

Indeed, British website The Race came out this week saying that Mercedes, with George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, has a stronger line-up than Red Bull Racing, which enters 2025 with Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson. An interesting conclusion, but is it true?

The website's journalists believe that Max Verstappen is the best driver on the F1 grid. Yet when combined with Lawson, they rate him as the fourth strongest duo in Formula 1; after Ferrari, McLaren and thus, the Mercedes drivers.

Indeed, the 'weaker' link at Red Bull would be Lawson, a driver who has only 11 Grands Prix to his name before he is already given the chance at the Austrian team. That would make it difficult to gauge what Lawson's exact level is going to be, the reasoning goes. That is why the duo of Russell and Antonelli are rated higher.

That sounds remarkable, because it is even more unclear exactly how good Kimi Antonelli is. The Italian has never driven a Grand Prix and has only one season in F2 to his name. In that, he happily showed good things at times, but there was also plenty of room for improvement.

Will Antonelli be an immediate factor in F1? It is possible, but nobody will be surprised if the youngster has to go through a learning period first. And that often involves trial and error. So looking purely at the facts, Lawson should have an edge over Antonelli.

If Antonelli and Lawson are conveniently seen as the second drivers of their teams - where the New Zealander has the upper hand - it is then a matter of comparing the two leaders of Mercedes and Red Bull. No one will dispute that Verstappen is currently of a different, much higher level than Russell.

Still, just to be sure, the numbers: Verstappen already won 63 Grands Prix in his career, Russell triumphed three times. So the Dutchman became world champion more often than Russell won a Grand Prix. Fifteen times the Briton was on the podium, against Verstappen 112 times. Of course, every F1 driver depends on his material. But no one can come close to Verstappen's level, Russell certainly not (yet). On that, friend and foe agree.

All in all, the conclusion can be drawn that on paper, the Verstappen/Lawson duo is a stronger combination than Russell/Antonelli.