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Damon Hill has warned George Russell against making Mercedes feel sorry for him during Kimi Antonelli’s purple patch in Formula 1.
The six-time Grand Prix winner has received somewhat of a humbling since he took victory at the season-opener in Australia, with Kimi Antonelli occupying the top step of the podium at every race weekend since.
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As a result, the young Italian now has a 20-point advantage in the championship standings, leading many figures within the F1 paddock to change allegiances after George Russell began the season as the overwhelming favourite.
The Canadian Grand Prix is the next stop on the F1 calendar in 2026, much to the delight of Russell. He took pole and a commanding victory at Montreal last year, so it offers him the perfect opportunity to shift the momentum back over to his side of the garage.
However, Antonelli is no slouch at the Quebec-based circuit. He took his maiden podium in F1 at last year’s edition of the race, and so a four-peat could certainly be on the cards for him as well.
- READ MORE: Mercedes see ‘important’ reasons why George Russell is losing to Kimi Antonelli in F1 title fight
Damon Hill warns George Russell against having Mercedes ‘feeling sorry’ for him
During a recent episode of the Stay on Track podcast, F1 pundit Damon Hill explained why Mercedes feeling sorry for Russell would have a detrimental effect on his championship hopes this season.
The 1996 title-winner began by highlighting just how difficult it is for an established driver to start getting beaten by a less experienced teammate. Hill certainly knows himself, considering the problems Jacques Villeneuve posed during his championship-winning season.
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“George has been at it now, I mean, he’s still a young driver, but he’s been doing Formula 1 for quite a while now,” Hill started. “And so you know that when the new thing comes along, you have to stamp your authority on this.
“Otherwise, people very quickly just switch their allegiance to whatever’s coming. It is also very important for the driver to give confidence to the people around them. You don’t want to be walking into a garage, and everyone’s going, ‘Well, how is he?’
“That’s not a good place to be because he needs his team, his support network within there. But of course, Toto is very pleased that he has taken a big gamble and signed an 18-year-old and put him in a car, when everyone said he was mad.”
Hill already thinks Russell may be at a disadvantage through the different ways in which he has seen Toto Wolff interact with them both. He added, “It’s now coming good, and he made comments to that effect. He’s never said anything quite so fulsome about George.
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“I always feel like George has always been the apprentice who has to prove himself, and it seems like he responds. So the mood of his attitude, his mindset, is going to be key to this when he goes into the garage.
“He needs to have the backing of his engineer. You don’t want the engineer to be going, ‘Now, George, you know this problem you had, and you couldn’t catch Kimi last time, how do we fix it?’
“You don’t want to be in that place. Because everyone’s feeling sorry for you, which is just the worst. It’s going to have to come from George.
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