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Gary Anderson suspects that Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington have decided not to share every detail with George Russell during Mercedes’ team debriefs.
Antonelli has claimed firm control of the F1 drivers’ championship, after scoring his fifth win in a row in Monaco. In contrast, Russell was left “a bit bamboozled” in the Principality at the weekend, and the Briton ultimately failed to clinch a single point in last Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Russell, who is scratching his head about how Antonelli gets his tyres into a better operating window than he can, now trails the Italian atop the standings by 68 points. Ferrari ace Lewis Hamilton has also overtaken his compatriot for second in the standings on 90 and 88 points.
What is it going to take for George Russell to get back in the title fight?
Photo by Jayce Illman/Getty Images
Gary Anderson thinks Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Peter Bonnington hold information back in Mercedes’ debriefs
Russell believes Antonelli’s driving style suits Mercedes’ car better than his approach, having noticed that the 19-year-old often generates more tyre temperature with a more aggressive style. Anderson thinks Antonelli is also adapting to changes to Mercedes’ set-up easier, too.
READ MORE: Kimi Antonelli wins the Monaco GP after Charles Leclerc caused a red flag
Former Jordan technical director Anderson thinks Antonelli took pole for the Monaco GP, on a day that Russell qualified P6, as he adapted to Mercedes using a softer suspension set-up. Antonelli is also potentially benefitting from agreeing with Bonnington to hold a little bit of information back from Russell that may help the Briton in qualifying to ensure he beats him.
Anderson told The Telegraph: “Kimi clearly adapted better. Riding a wave of confidence, his qualifying lap was sensational, maximum attack and millimetre perfect.
“Perhaps in George’s mind he was a little more reticent to take on the kerbs, given he would have been slung across the track into the barriers last year?
“And [Antonelli] has a wise old owl behind him. His engineer, Peter Bonnington, who ran Lewis Hamilton for many years, is very experienced and the combination clearly works well.
“It’s not that Bono is a rocket scientist but he can bring his many years of experience to bear, suggesting set-up tweaks [and] tricks. Kimi is young, not stuck in his ways, open-minded enough to adapt. He is also the perfect modern-day driver in many respects.
“I also think the wheel-to-wheel battles they had in Canada may have cemented in Kimi and Bono’s minds that the best way to beat George is to out-qualify him.
“I don’t mean setting the car up specifically for one-lap pace, but maybe just holding a little bit back in the debrief meetings.
“Things like knowing you can hit a certain kerb that little bit harder on your last lap, when the car is at its lightest and grip level at its best. Keeping that to yourself is normal stuff.”
Russell frustrated Antonelli during the F1 Sprint in Canada, as the Italian felt the Briton was too aggressive in his defensive move for the lead. The pair also tangled during the Canadian Grand Prix, with Antonelli running off in his attacks before Russell retired due to a car issue.
Gary Anderson thinks Kimi Antonelli is the ‘perfect modern-day driver’
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Antonelli’s size is one of the reasons why Anderson suggests that the Italian is the “perfect modern-day driver”, as his height at 5 ft 8 compared to Russell at 6ft gives Mercedes a raft of positives. Russell is one of the tallest drivers in F1, while Antonelli is one of the smallest.
“He is small, light,” Anderson noted. “That’s less of an advantage than it used to be with the minimum weight limit and cockpit sizes. But there could be small differences there – more airflow around the airbox, more room in the cockpit, more cooling. That’s not a negative for George, just all positives for Kimi.”
Only Haas ace Esteban Ocon and Williams racer Alex Albon are taller than Russell among the 2026 F1 grid, with the French and Thai drivers both 6 ft 1. At the other end of the scale, only Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and McLaren’s Lando Norris at 5 ft 6 plus Aston Martin star Fernando Alonso at 5 ft 7 are smaller than Antonelli and the other five drivers who stand at 5 ft 8 tall.
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