Antonelli predicted to avoid Mercedes ‘nuke’ in Russell title battle
Photo: Race Pictures
20:01, 14 May
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Henry Eccles is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs, and features across the F1 calendar. Since joining in 2026, he has produced high-volume reporting on the sport’s biggest stories, alongside feature pieces including analysis and historical content.
Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer does not expect Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli to “nuke the team” and perform all out warfare against his teammate George Russell, but believes the “real Kimi" could later reveal himself as their title fight heats up later in the year.
Russell was widely tipped to be the favourite for the 2026 title, particularly after his season-opening victory in Melbourne. But after three consecutive wins for 19-year-old Antonelli, the Italian now leads him in the standings by 20 points as the youngest championship leader ever.
Russell has maintained he is not yet focused on the title fight. While praising Antonelli’s “amazing job” so far, he believes he has maximised what has been an unlucky couple of races. Antonelli has similarly tempered expectations around a title fight, also stressing that “there’s a very good dynamic in the team.”
But how long will that last? Former Renault driver Palmer believes things will remain harmonious for the foreseeable future, but doesn’t rule out a more tense dynamic closer to the end of the season. Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, he said: “He [Antonelli] is young. He's out of contract at the end of the year currently, which seems amazing right now.
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“I don't think he's going to nuke the team by going all acrimonious on George for the gain of seven points or 10 points, or whatever the swing might be, at least at this stage. Maybe, if they're close in September, October, we'll start to see what the real Kimi is like at that point.”
Wolff tipped to avoid Hamilton-Rosberg repeat in 2026
Photo: Race Pictures
An intra-Mercedes title fight is of course nothing new in F1, with friends-turned-enemies Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg battling in the 2010s. Palmer believes the toxicity of that rivalry is unlikely to show up again at Mercedes with team principal Toto Wolff having learned from that experience.
Palmer added: “The other thing is, I don't see Toto favouring Kimi in the same way that Helmut Marko was absolutely in Sebastian Vettel's camp at Red Bull. Toto will be completely fair, because he's had this experience as well with Rosberg and Hamilton.
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“He'll have a better idea in his head how he's going to manage it. And right now, having a 19 year old as a championship leader, at least in that sense, will make it so much easier than the last time he did it.”
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F1-stand 2026
Season
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | MercedesMER | 100 | |
2 | MercedesMER | 80 | |
3 | FerrariFER | 63 | |
4 | McLarenMCL | 51 | |
5 | FerrariFER | 49 | |
6 | McLarenMCL | 43 | |
7 | Red Bull RacingRBR | 26 | |
8 | HaasHAA | 17 | |
9 | AlpineALP | 16 | |
10 | Racing BullsRCB | 10 |
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