Russell took a page out of Antonelli's book amid Miami setback

After finishing fourth in the Sprint, the Russell was comfortably outpaced by teammate Kimi Antonelli in both qualifying and the Grand Prix itself. However, he recovered to finish fourth in Sunday’s race after overtaking Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc in the closing laps. With his teammate winning in Miami, Russell now trails Antonelli by 20 points in the standings after four rounds. The young Italian is also currently on a three-race winning streak.

The 28-year-old Briton admitted he was not satisfied with his performance and revealed that, during the second half of the race, he made several changes in an attempt to move closer to Antonelli’s setup. Russell also acknowledged that Miami has traditionally been one of his more difficult circuits.

Speaking to GPblog, among others, he explained: "The result could have been worse. It was a very tough race. I got some ideas to be honest, I used the last 20 laps as a bit of a test for myself and tried some quite drastic changes with my driving style, and some of the differential and brake settings on my car and it improved things. I just can't wait for the next race where it's slightly more normal conditions and, yeah, no major cause for concern."

While Antonelli has continued his winning streak, Russell is experiencing a dip in form after winning the Australian Grand Prix and entering the season as the clear favourite for the drivers' title.

Reacting to the gap increasing to his teammate in the standings, he added: "Clearly, he's in a really great place at the moment and momentum is with him, but I've got enough experience myself from championships I've won on how momentum swings throughout a year. Also, you know, looking at the championship last year, to be honest, I'm not even considering it, I just want to get back onto the top step of the podium.

Pundits are also weighing in on Antonelli's rapid rise during the 2026 season and what it could mean for Russell. Speaking on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, Ralf Schumacher suggested that the Briton could end up facing a situation similar to the one Valtteri Bottas experienced at Mercedes alongside Lewis Hamilton.

The former F1 driver explained: "I have to be completely honest, Kimi Antonelli completely outclassed George Russell in Miami. That's just how it is. The gaps were huge, also in terms of lap times. He was driving in a different league with the Mercedes. That's a real thrashing for George Russell, no question about it.

“For Toto Wolff, the situation is perfect because he now has his number one driver. His number one, who can fight for the World Championship, and Russell, who can score points. That's how it looks at the moment. And now something else will happen within the team: they will listen to Antonelli more and more. Moreover, he obviously has a huge influence on everything with his race engineer. It will be interesting for Russell to see if he can turn things around. I think it will be difficult for him. If things continue like this, he'll be in the number two position relatively quickly, like Valtteri Bottas was back then," he concluded.