James Hinchcliffe says George Russell must be more ‘cut-throat’ with Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes

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James Hinchcliffe believes George Russell has the advantage over Kimi Antonelli, but cannot afford to look out for his young teammate anymore.

With Antonelli winning the Japanese Grand Prix, he managed to leapfrog Russell to become the youngest championship leader in Formula One history.

Russell and Antonelli now find themselves in a title fight, as Mercedes hope to avoid a repeat of the tense situation between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

How the championship looks after Japan

Which drivers are out of position heading into the break?

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Russell’s radio message at Suzuka about Antonelli seemed to suggest that the British driver is worried about being outperformed by his prodigious teammate.

However, despite Kimi Antonelli now leading the championship race, both Jolyon Palmer and James Hinchcliffe are backing George Russell, even if they think he needs to be more aggressive.

READ MORE: Kimi Antonelli has done something in 2026 F1 season that only Ayrton Senna had ever achieved

James Hinchcliffe thinks George Russell cannot take Kimi Antonelli lightly anymore

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, James Hinchcliffe gave his perspective on George Russell and Kimi Antonelli’s brewing title race.

While Hinchcliffe believes Russell still has an advantage, a few things can go against him that he has no control over. Russell must do whatever he can, even if it means costing his teammate.

“If George, for whatever reason, has a few races midseason where things don’t go well and he hits a bit of a slump, that could bring things back…

“If we all think George is the guy, racing still has variables that you can’t control, and you could still have two-three bad weekends in a row, maybe nothing to do with yourself.

“If you have allowed your teammate to be too close to you at that stage, all of a sudden, that power dynamic can shift in their favour. I think right from the drop now, George has to be a little bit more cut-throat.”

READ MORE: Damon Hill doesn’t think Mercedes need to ‘protect’ Kimi Antonelli from George Russell title fight

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Jolyon Palmer backs George Russell to overcome Kimi Antonelli title challenge despite recent scares

Hinchcliffe’s comments came in response to Jolyon Palmer, who claimed that George Russell is still the championship favourite, despite Kimi Antonelli’s recent success.

“If you asked anyone after Melbourne, I think they would have said this is George Russell’s title. I still believe he’s the favourite. I still think he’s got the best chance.

“I think over the course of the season, his consistency will be better. He’s shown over a number of years the highest level which could win championships, and I just haven’t seen that from Kimi. Obviously, the sample size is small…

“My belief right now is that George will be more consistent over the year… There is an element of like, ’Well, hang on, Kimi is stepping up, and you never know how these things go.’”

Russell has been warned by several figures to start treating Antonelli like a rival. In fact, some have urged Russell to consider Antonelli a formidable threat going forward.

Mercedes will want to avoid a serious conflict between the two drivers, but they cannot avoid seeing both their drivers going head-to-head in their quest for the world championship.