Russell warns everyone: 'Antonelli is catching up faster than you think!'

Mercedes driver George Russell has highlighted the ongoing improvement of young talent Kimi Antonelli, despite some setbacks for the team this season especially in his home race in Emilia Romagna and in the last european GPs. Speaking to Motorsport.com, Russell provided insight into how the performance gap between himself and Antonelli should be interpreted.

“The fact is, his pace delta, to me, is no different, I think,” Russell said. “In Canada, I was on pole and he qualified fourth, but he was six tenths behind me. In Belgium, he was out in Q1 and I made it to Q3 — but he was only three tenths off me.” started.

Russell emphasized that while the results on the grid may appear to show a gap, the underlying pace tells a different story. "So, people look at the underlying result, but the truth is, he's still making progress, even though we, as a team, have gone backwards. Suddenly, you're now in the fight where a tenth can be six or seven grid spots. Before, for the positions we were fighting for, a tenth is one position."

According to Russell, Antonelli’s consistency and improvement are clear, even in a highly competitive field where small differences in lap times now translate to significant grid changes, probably the young Italian will find again his real potential in the upcoming races.