Despite the five-week hiatus for Formula One racing driven by the war in the Middle East, the teams were hard at work bringing upgrades. McLaren claimed they had a completely new car, and Ferrari brought no less than eleven significant upgrades to their SF-26.
Yet, when the chequered flag fell, it was a Mercedes driven by rising star Kimi Antonelli that fought off the team’s hopeful rivals to claim victory on Sunday, whilst his teammate languished down in fourth place.
George Russell looked invincible at the first race down under in Melbourne; yet, bar his Sprint win the following weekend in China, he has been dominated by the young Italian upstart Toto Wolff signed to replace seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.
Mercedes team mate comparison damning for Russell
The Mercedes head-to-head in Grand Prix qualifying now stands 3-1 in favour of Antonelli, who now leads Russell in the drivers’ championship by a whopping 20 points. George spent much of his weekend in the Miami heat making excuses for his lack of performance, claiming such low-grip surfaces like the Miami International Autodrome, Zandvoort, and even Brazil—where he won in 2022—do not suit his “precise” driving style.
Then again, the facts show neither did China nor the iconic Suzuka circuit in Japan, where on both occasions Antonelli bested his senior teammate. No F1 driver has converted their first three pole positions into Grand Prix wins—that is, until the latest superstar of the sport, Kimi Antonelli, completed this particular hat-trick at the recent Miami Grand Prix.
Yet, whilst the journalists and broadcasters waxed lyrical over Antonelli’s Senna-esque driving skills in Miami, the Mercedes team boss chose to play down his junior driver’s achievements.
When it was put to Toto Wolff by Sky F1 presenter Simon Lazenby after the race that F1 had found its next maestro, the Mercedes boss chose to downplay any Antonelli hype. “Yeah, I hope he can continue on this positive slope. Most important is not to be carried away. We have a good car. Hopefully the upgrades work next race.”
Talk of Mercedes upgrades a diversionary tactic
Even with McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari throwing the kitchen sink at beating Mercedes in Miami—and Mercedes having no upgrades to talk about—Antonelli showed his class, easily beating the current world champion, Lando Norris, into second place. Thus, Wolff’s reference to incoming upgrades appeared superfluous to the conversation.
Without prompt, Toto then decided to talk up George Russell, despite his driver having “thrown in the towel” pretty much after Sprint Qualifying on Friday. The Mercedes boss guided the conversation to the competitive dynamic within the team, stating Antonelli “has a fierce competitor in his teammate also, who wasn’t happy with the track this weekend. So just important to keep both feet on the ground,” Wolff added.
Yet, such is the dysfunction within the Mercedes garage, Russell—who was languishing in P6 during the latter stages of the Miami Grand Prix—was forced to accept his side of the garage had got his setup wrong. He requested to be given the settings Antonelli was running on his car.
“What is Kimi doing differently on the diff and brake bias? Give me his settings. I need to try something else because this is going nowhere,” Russell demanded of his engineer on lap 45. “Copy, George. Switching you to ‘Map 12’ for the diff and moving bias forward 2%. Let’s see if that helps the rotation,” was the response from Marcus Dudley, his engineer.
Russell has to copy Antonelli settings
And hey presto, within a couple of laps, the message came from Russell to the pit wall: “Okay, that’s much better. The car actually turns now. Why didn’t we do this thirty laps ago?” George was then able to close the gap to a Max Verstappen on ageing tyres—something he’d previously been unable to do for several laps.
The pertinent question which Wolff should have been asked is: ‘Why is there such a disconnect in the Mercedes garage that Russell had not even tried these settings earlier in the weekend?’
In terms of the generational talent that is Antonelli and his record-breaking feat in Miami, that was all we got from the Mercedes team boss. He went on to caveat the Mercedes upgrades coming in Canada: “Well, sometimes upgrades don’t correlate with the stopwatch. So we need to prove that out. I hope we can.
“And this is going to be a development race this season. How much can you bring? Are you limited by the cost cap? All of these things will play a role.” All fascinating issues to “chew the cud” over, but what about the brilliance of Kimi Antonelli, who is chewing up and spitting out his much more experienced teammate?
Canadian GP, Russell’s next big hope
For George, he can only hope his fortunes improve at the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix, held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on the Île Notre-Dame. But hang on—the track on the island, built from the spoil recovered when the Montreal metro was constructed in the 1960s, has some similar characteristics to that of Miami.
Resurfaced in 2024, the asphalt is now low in abrasion, and the fact the circuit is a public parkland for most of the year means the track is incredibly low-grip when F1 first arrives. Montreal is also a Sprint weekend, meaning the teams and drivers will have just 60 minutes to explore the setup of their cars for the remainder of the weekend.
Indeed, George has gone well in the last two editions of the Canadian Grand Prix, claiming pole position and taking victory in 2025. So, there is hope for the British driver, yet 2026 is a very different proposition. With the all-new hybrid engines, each circuit has a different energy profile; whilst Canada is rich for harvesting with its multiple heavy braking zones, it is also poor in deployment sustainability with its long straights.
Antonelli in the driving seat at Mercedes
So, the winner will come from the team with the car that manages these two dynamics the best, which to date appears to have been Mercedes. But the driver who appears to excel in this regard has proven to be Kimi Antonelli—so another headache of a weekend is ahead for George Russell, swiftly followed by more diversionary tactics from Toto Wolff as to how good his protege really is.
Yet there will come the point should Antonelli maintain his momentum and continue to rack up the victories, where Russell’s sub-standard performance by way of comparison will have to be addressed by the Mercedes team boss.
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With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
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