George Russell reveals ‘what people don’t see’ about Kimi Antonelli amid Mercedes slump

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George Russell has leapt to the defence of his Mercedes teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli during the Italian’s rookie season, which has been somewhat of a rollercoaster.

Despite being the leading rookie in the F1 drivers’ standings, Antonelli’s performances with Mercedes this season have left a lot to be desired.

The 18-year-old has scored points in just six of the 14 races this year, with Russell only finishing one race outside the top 10 in the same period.

Antonelli has especially struggled during the European leg of the season, with his 10th-place finish in Hungary being the only point that he has claimed on his home continent.

The struggles in his rookie season have led Ralf Schumacher to debunk the idea that Antonelli is the next Max Verstappen. The former F1 race winner stated that he might be a ‘strong driver’, but he has doubts over him being the next racing phenomenon.

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George Russell has seen that Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes pace is ‘no different’ to his own

Speaking to Motorsport.com, Russell came to the defence of his teenage teammate, highlighting a crucial aspect of Antonelli’s data which has often been overlooked due to the lack of results on track.

“The fact is, his pace delta to me is no different,” Russell revealed. “I think that’s what people don’t see. In Canada, I was on pole and he qualified fourth, but he was six tenths behind me.

“In Belgium, he was out in Q1 and I made it to Q3 but he was only three tenths off. People look at the underlying result, but the truth is he’s still making progress, even though we as a team have gone backwards.

“But suddenly, you’re now in the fight where a tenth can be six or seven grid spots, whereas before, for the positions we were fighting for, a tenth was plus or minus one position.

“Kimi and I had just taken an equal step backwards over those last few races.”

In another show of defence for his under-fire garage-mate, Russell expressed his admiration for how Antonelli has dealt with the media in his rookie season.

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Mercedes have regressed in performance since the beginning of the season

In recent weeks, various Mercedes figures have noted that the majority of Antonelli’s woes haven’t been down to the driver himself, but it is instead down to the state of the W16 in its current era of development.

Mercedes have faced difficulties in the implementation of a rear suspension upgrade that they initially brought to Imola earlier in the season.

The upgrade was removed for future races but was brought back in Montreal, where the Silver Arrows enjoyed their best result of the season so far, with Russell standing atop the podium for the first time this season. Antonelli also claimed his maiden podium in F1 with a third-place finish.

Mercedes chief Andrew Shovlin has also defended Antonelli’s results, highlighting the downward trajectory of the W16’s performance being a crucial factor in the 18-year-old’s tough results.