David Coulthard thinks Mercedes now ‘expect’ Kimi Antonelli to be their leader over George Russell

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David Coulthard has warned George Russell that the ‘expectation’ at Mercedes could be now that Kimi Antonelli is the team leader.

Following his victory at the Australian GP, Russell has been second-best to his younger teammate, with Antonelli winning the last three races from pole position. The Italian now leads the standings by 20 points after his victory at the Miami Grand Prix.

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His British teammate has been struggling to extract the same performance from the W17, finishing off the podium in the last two events. Juan Pablo Montoya even thinks Russell has ‘given up’ on the title.

There is still a long way to go in 2026, but clearly, the tide is shifting in the title fight. Mercedes no longer sees Russell as the favourite, and Coulthard now thinks, internally, the Silver Arrows do not view the Brit as the team leader.

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David Coulthard says Mercedes may ‘expect’ Kimi Antonelli to be team leader

Lando Norris praised Antonelli for his brilliant efforts in 2026 and for getting the better of his experienced teammate. Coulthard feels he has ‘come of age’ and is now possibly being expected to lead Mercedes.

He said on Up To Speed: “Yeah, he’s come of age. He may only be in his second season of Formula 1, but dealing with not only the pressure of having Lando there ready to pounce, but he also had some technical difficulties with the paddle shift, that meant he was having inconsistent downshifts.

“And he was calmed down by his engineer Bono when he was sort of an elevated voice, trying to figure out what the problem was.

“And I’m sure they’ll have a conversation about that afterwards as well because, in the end, the problem is the problem. You just need to get the information to the team and they will try and find a solution for you.

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“So I think he’s absolutely come of age. He has absolutely earned the right to be leading this world championship. And the expectation is now, and this will be uncomfortable for George, but the expectation is that he is leading the team and clearly in results.

“Now George has the experience, he has the quality, he has all of the skills to be able to take ownership of that back again. They both cannot win. Someone’s got to be first. Someone’s got to be second.”

Toto Wolff has warned Antonelli that Russell is a ‘killer’ and will continue to put up a fight in 2026. But he does have a mountain to climb, with the 19-year-old displaying a clear advantage.

Russell denies underestimating Antonelli and claims he still has confidence in himself to pull it back in his favour. He will need an instant response in Canada if he wants to stay in the championship hunt.