George Russell admitted that he needed to make changes inspired by the settings used by Kimi Antonelli, his teammate at Mercedes, to try to improve his performance during the Miami GP of Formula 1.
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The Briton finished only in fourth place after overtaking Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc in the final laps. Throughout the weekend, however, Russell was outperformed by Antonelli both in qualifying and in the main race. The Italian won the race and reached his third consecutive victory, opening a 20-point lead over his teammate in the championship after four rounds.
After the race, Russell explained that he used the final laps as a test inside the car to find solutions: “The result could have been worse. It was a very tough race. I had some ideas, to be honest, I used the last 20 laps as a test for myself and tried quite drastic changes in my driving style, as well as some differential and brake settings on my car, and that improved things.”
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The Briton also downplayed the difference in the championship and said he believes the scenario can change throughout the season. “Clearly, he is in a really good moment right now and the momentum is with him, but I have enough experience from championships I have won about how momentum changes over the course of a year,” he said.
Antonelli’s phase also generated comments in the paddock. During the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, Ralf Schumacher compared Russell’s current situation to the period when Valtteri Bottas shared Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton: “I have to be completely honest, Kimi Antonelli completely outperformed George Russell in Miami. That’s a real thrashing for George Russell,” Schumacher said. The former driver also suggested that Antonelli could quickly establish himself as Mercedes’ main name in the fight for the world title.
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