Russell told to deploy Hamilton blueprint in fight against Antonelli

The former F1 driver-turned-pundit believes Russell must now view Antonelli as a genuine title rival, with the early stages of the season pointing towards a potential championship battle between the pair.

Brundle, who spoke on the Sky F1 show, admitted he would be increasingly concerned if he were in Russell’s position, particularly given Antonelli’s strong start to the campaign.

"If I was George, I'd be more concerned after three races than I was at the beginning of the season. George did all those hard yards at Williams and spent an extra year or two there, went to Mercedes just as they stopped dominating and had to tolerate all that,” Brundle explained.

"Now they look like they've got a championship car and you'd say George has got the upper hand, and all of a sudden he's got to be looking across the garage and thinking, 'hang on a minute, this is nowhere near certain. I've got to beat this teenager yet.' And I think he really has.”

The 66-year-old, however, concluded by advising Russell to treat Antonelli no differently than how he approached Hamilton at his peak.

During Russell’s three-year stint as teammate to Hamilton, the 28-year-old beat the seven-time champion twice to finish ahead of him during their time together. Russell detailed how he acquired psychological help to beat Hamilton.

Earlier, Eddie Irvine predicted tensions could soon escalate between Russell and Antonelli, with both drivers likely to clash on track as the 2026 championship rolls on.

The former Scuderia Ferrari driver noted that team principal Toto Wolff may have to step in to define the terms of engagement between both drivers in order to avoid any chaotic scenarios in the future.

Currently, Antonelli leads Russell in the drivers’ standings by nine points, following consecutive race victories at the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix.

Want to stay up to date with the latest events from the F1 paddock? GPblog’s Paddock Update is the place to be.

Follow and subscribe to our channels on Spotify and YouTube so you don’t miss a scoop as the actions and reactions continue across the Formula 1 scene.

Check out the latest episode of our Paddock Update here 👇