Jolyon Palmer says George Russell is nearing a dangerous point in F1 title race vs Kimi Antonelli

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Jolyon Palmer has warned George Russell that Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli could become ‘unassailable’ if he does not start beating him in 2026.

Antonelli has won the last three races from pole position, while Russell has been off the podium in the last two events. He is now 20 points adrift after four races.

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James Hinchcliffe says Russell has no excuses for losing to his teammate at the Miami Grand Prix. The Italian had the better of him throughout the weekend and claimed another strong win over the two McLarens.

Russell denies underestimating Antonelli, but it is clear that he is now on the back foot to his younger teammate. With the Canadian GP coming up, Palmer has warned that he has to grab a win or risk falling further behind.

Jolyon Palmer warns George Russell that Kimi Antonelli could become ‘unassailable’

It is still early days in 2026, but the momentum is shifting in Antonelli’s favour. So much so that David Coulthard thinks Mercedes may expect Antonelli to be team leader.

Speaking after the Miami GP on F1TV’s post-race show, Palmer says Russell needs to bounce back immediately, or he could find himself in a dangerous position and out of the title hunt.

“I think he needs to win, actually. I think we’re getting to that phase now,” he said. “After that is Monaco, where I don’t know if Mercedes will be the form team anyway. The cornering speed of Ferrari could be pretty ferocious around there.

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“So Canada is George’s happy hunting ground. They’re bringing upgrades. This is their chance to respond and get themselves back definitively to the front of the field, and he’s got to stop this run for Kimi.

“So I feel like the championship lead is getting close to that full race win, and you never want to psychologically dip over that because you think, ‘I now cannot leave the next race as the championship leader’.

“And you start to think, hang on, if one more thing goes wrong, you’re up to 50 points and it starts to become unassailable.”

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Juan Pablo Montoya says Kimi Antonelli will have George Russell ‘mentally covered’ if he wins in Canada

Juan Pablo Montoya added that Canada is typically a strong track for Russell, but with Mercedes bringing upgrades for the race, he warned that one of the drivers may not suit the new package.

“So the big thing is, everybody’s talking about, and Kimi knows, that George is really strong there, and his mind, he knows if he can beat George there, he has him mentally covered, and that’s a big thing,” he said.

“The other thing is, everybody else that brought upgrades here, one of them struggled with the car. So that’s going to be a big question mark.

“Every time you put upgrades in the car, yes, the car goes faster, but it behaves different. Who’s going to like the car? That’s another big question.”