George Russell seriously under pressure after British GP Sprint - and the F1 grid knows it

Antonelli, lining up behind Hamilton for the Sprint, blasted past the seven-time world champion down the Hangar Straight into Stowe on Lap 8 - with the Ferrari driver unable to stay within overtake range of the Mercedes sensation and finishing 2.7s behind.

Meanwhile, Russell, who has gained some recent momentum in his bid to catch Antonelli at the top of the standings, became entangled in the battle for P4 with Max Verstappen at Silverstone - and while the Briton won that battle, it is not where he needs to be to properly challenge Antonelli (and Hamilton) for the world title.

Asked on Russell's struggles behind him so far this season post-Sprint, Antonelli refused to give his 28-year-old teammate any advice. Speaking to media, including GPblog, Antonelli said: “I don't really want to answer this. I don't like talking about others, to be fair, others' performance.

Hamilton, asked the same question as Antonelli, joked the young Italian "should be a politician," before also refusing to give any tips to his former Mercedes teammate Russell: "It's nothing to do with me. I'm not really focusing on anybody else."

Finishing P3 in the Sprint, Norris was then asked on Russell's earlier comments that he wanted to take some seats from his 'Landostand' and have a grandstand of his own. Norris' response? Not exactly sounding like that of a driver worried about Russell's threat.