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George Russell spoke about a crucial change he made ahead of the Miami Grand Prix inspired by Kimi Antonelli.
Russell didn’t have nearly as good a Miami Grand Prix performance as Antonelli, settling for a P4 finish and missing out on a podium for the second race in a row.
On the other side, Antonelli earned his third straight win, allowing him to extend his gap over Russell in the championship standings.
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After the race, Russell denied underestimating Antonelli and his form during this championship battle they find themselves in.
But George Russell took a page out of Kimi Antonelli’s playbook ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, adopting his setup to try and find success on a track he has struggled with.
READ MORE: Toto Wolff warns Kimi Antonelli that George Russell is a ‘killer’ despite growing championship lead
George Russell explained why he followed Kimi Antonelli’s example that he ‘normally’ wouldn’t
Tim Hauraney spoke on the Nailing The Apex podcast about his conversation with George Russell during the Miami GP weekend, and how the driver told him about adopting Kimi Antonelli’s setup.
Given his struggles on the track, Russell believed that adopting Antonelli’s setup might give him an advantage during the race.
“They’re one and the same. If the car setup is not giving you the confidence, then you don’t have the confidence. You’ve got to push towards being as comfortable as possible. The thing with George is that he doesn’t do really well with low-grip surfaces. He really does struggle on it.
“He was telling me, ‘Look, I go to Japan, and I’m having a great old time because there’s a ton of grip, high downforce. I can really push, be aggressive. But when I come to low grip surfaces, I really struggle to try and get the confidence…’
“He ended up opening up to me about the setup which drivers don’t normally do. Essentially, not to get too technical, but when it comes to the differential setting in the car… it has to do with how the wheels turn when you’re going into a corner.
“He actually, for the first time, took Kimi’s setup from the differential onto his car as well. He says it’s something he doesn’t normally do. He’s usually using his own things.
“He said, ‘For this weekend, I was trying and searching for everything. Anything I could find. So I ended up taking what Kimi was using to see if it could work for me.’
“That’s why we were in the race, we heard George complaining about four-wheel sliding and then eventually getting to the point towards the race where George was like, ‘Oh, the car feels better now.’
“Working through the tools in the car to try and sort out the differential issue that he was trying to get on top of because he had taken it from Kimi Antonelli is not something he was used to.”
READ MORE: Toto Wolff nearly intervened on the radio after receiving FIA messages about Kimi Antonelli
Will the Mercedes drivers fall out this year?
Or will Toto Wolff keep the peace like McLaren did?
Kimi Antonelli has way more confidence compared to George Russell
Russell’s decision to adopt Antonelli’s setup shows how much the British driver is struggling for confidence compared to his Italian teammate.
But Antonelli’s confidence could come back to haunt Mercedes, according to James Hinchcliffe, who said on the F1 Nation podcast that his bad starts cannot continue if he wants to win the title.
Tom Clarkson: “He was laughing at the pressure in the press conference after the race. He was saying, ’Only lost two places at the start of the Grand Prix, that’s progress!’ To be able to make a joke about it means he is in a really good place mentally.”
Hinchcliffe: “Yes, 100%. But it also means that the team has a phenomenal car. Because we’re going to get to a point where you don’t have that advantage, and losing two or three places off the start isn’t okay. You’re not going to be able to bounce back from that for every weekend for another 19 weekends.
“I think it’s working right now, but they’re going to have to improve that at some point. As these other teams get closer… if they continue to be this close, Kimi is not going to be able to rely on the car pace advantage that they’ve got at the moment to make up for those bad starts.”
As things stand, Antonelli has eclipsed Russell as Mercedes’ leader, even if the team won’t make that an official edict any time soon.
A clash between Russell and Antonelli seems inevitable, but Mercedes will do their best to ensure that isn’t the case.
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