David Coulthard rejects George Russell’s ‘boo-hoo’ excuses for losing to Kimi Antonelli

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David Coulthard is concerned about George Russell as the deficit to Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli grows.

Russell has now fallen to third in the standings, behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, after a late drive-through penalty dumped him out of the points in Monaco.

Antonelli has gained 50 points on Russell in the last two Sunday races, having won the Canadian GP when his teammate retired. The gap has ballooned to 68.

Lewis Hamilton is up to second in the drivers’ standings after the Monaco GP! Where will George Russell finish this year?

Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

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David Coulthard: George Russell is running out of time to turn F1 season around

Having been soundly beaten by Antonelli, Russell called Miami a bogey track, explaining that he struggled on the lowest-grip circuits.

Coulthard could accept that excuse, but the Italian appeared to have more pace on Sunday in Montreal, a circuit where Russell has historically thrived.

Then, in Monaco, Russell said his driving style didn’t suit this year’s Mercedes, certainly compared to Antonelli. Coulthard fears he’s wasting his breath making such comments in the press.

Under the current points system, no driver has ever come back from a deficit larger than 46 points. Even if the scoring is standardised, only two have ever overturned a gap larger than 68 – Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 and James Hunt in 1976.

Kimi Antonelli is going for a sixth straight win in Barcelona. Who’s your pick for the top step of the podium?

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“The worrying thing is, we’re hearing in Miami, it’s a track that’s a bogey track for him,” Coulthard told Channel 4. “We know that some tracks, we’re just not quite as together, but he didn’t really articulate it in the same way that he’s been doing.

“Here, he’s been talking about his driving style isn’t suiting his car as well as it is for Kimi. This is all boo-hoo. That doesn’t put any points on the board.

“He’s got to be not really explaining that to us, he needs to be explaining that to his engineers and unlocking the potential of the car for him.

“If he doesn’t do that soon… we’re a quarter of the way through the season, before we know it, we’ll be halfway. Anyone who’s won five in a row has won the world championship.”

Russell lapped four-tenths slower than Antonelli in Monaco qualifying, one of the largest intra-team deficits of the session. He hasn’t beaten the teenager on a Saturday and Sunday since the season opener in Australia.