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Kimi Antonelli has spoiled George Russell’s home Grand Prix at every opportunity so far at Silverstone this weekend, with Mark Webber highlighting the notable gap in both of the Mercedes drivers’ form.
The young Italian took another small step to championship glory at the British Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon, expertly dispatching his teammate and both Ferrari drivers to claim his fifth pole position of the current campaign.
Name the biggest winner and biggest loser from Saturday’s qualifying session at the British GP 👇
Kimi Antonelli claimed his fifth pole position of the season at Silverstone!
Russell, on the other hand, endured another difficult qualifying session off the back of his pole position this weekend, with the issues seemingly beginning in Q1. The Briton bizarrely found the gravel trap at turn seven, but managed to recover to claim a place in Q2.
However, the seven-time Grand Prix winner was unable to replicate his supreme one-lap pace from the Red Bull Ring, and former F1 driver Mark Webber believes it is now becoming a real “headache” for him.
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Mark Webber says Kimi Antonelli is now giving George Russell a real ‘headache’
During Channel 4’s coverage of qualifying at Silverstone, the F1 pundit was asked for his thoughts on the current battle between Antonelli and Russell at the top of the drivers’ championship.
The Australian is under the impression that Russell’s best efforts are unable to get even close to what Antonelli would deem an “average” lap.
“[Russell] has big laps, like, we saw a few in Austria,” Webber began (15:10 04/07). “He was brilliant in Austria, with that yellow flag. He had great composure to pull off the pole position there, but, his big laps are just enough to hang with Kimi’s mean line of his laps.
Kimi Antonelli wins the British GP Sprint. Who can stop him winning the Grand Prix?
“In terms of his average lap, just that cluster of laps, he just is stronger at the moment. That’s the headache for George. He has to somehow get the consistency in qualifying, and then, of course, he can start to manipulate things at the start of a race.
“But I’ll tell you what, Antonelli is on absolute fire. The kid is just absolutely brilliant in the new regulations at all tracks. We had rain, we’ve had this, we’ve had that, you know, fast corners, we’ve had every combination, and he’s performing brilliantly.”
If Antonelli does end up claiming a Grand Prix victory on Russell’s home soil, it would be the latest in a string of big blows that the 28-year-old has been dealt by his younger teammate this season.
The 19-year-old would not only be taking a victory at Russell’s home race, but he would also be gaining an even more commanding lead over him in the F1 standings.
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