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Mercedes weren’t pleased with George Russell’s ‘tetchy’ team radio during the Japanese Grand Prix, Ted Kravitz says. Russell surrendered the lead of the championship to teammate Kimi Antonelli as he missed out on the podium at Suzuka.
Both Mercedes drivers lost ground at the start, with Russell slipping to fourth and Antonelli falling all the way from pole to sixth. The former dispatched Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc to regain P2 but couldn’t make a move on Oscar Piastri stick.
Russell ran longer than Piastri in his first stint, which would have given him a tyre advantage in the battle for the win, but the safety car triggered by Oliver Bearman’s crash gave Antonelli a cheap pit stop. The Italian emerged in the lead, while Russell was left battling the two Ferraris.
No Mercedes one-two in Japan!
Oscar Piastri takes second, with Charles Leclerc third
He prevailed against Hamilton but wasn’t able to replicate his early move on Leclerc, which meant he finished fourth, ending his 100% top-two record across all competitive sessions.
George Russell radio complaints prompt Toto Wolff response at Mercedes
After learning of the unfortunate safety car, a furious Russell said: “Unbelievable. Wow, f—, our luck in these last two races.”
Russell had looked on course for pole last time out in China but stopped on track in Q3, handing the advantage to Antonelli.
In response to Russell’s message, team principal Toto Wolff, who doesn’t often speak on the radio, said: “George, see what you can do from here, yeah. Super unlucky.”
How the championship looks after Japan
Which drivers are out of position heading into the break?
Russell later asked his team whether Antonelli would restart the race in the pre-planned manner following the safety car period. Given that he lost a place to Hamilton at first, it’s safe to assume that he was caught out.
“Listen, I feel for George, I really do, but I think some of these tetchy comments or complaints are not going down well in the Mercedes garage,” Kravitz said live on Sky Sports.
“That’s why we heard the response from Toto Wolff. That’s the feeling there.”
Kimi Antonelli ends George Russell’s 30-race streak
Antonelli’s victory takes him 11 points clear of Russell at the top of the standings. The 19-year-old is the youngest driver ever to lead the world championship.
After Russell dominated the Australian GP weekend and outpaced Antonelli by three-tenths in qualifying, it looked as if he could be set for a Max Verstappen-esque dominant season.
- READ MORE: Riccardo Patrese claims George Russell isn’t a world champion-calibre F1 driver like Max Verstappen
But while Antonelli admitted he was ‘lucky’ to win on Sunday, he has seemingly had the edge on Russell when it comes to race pace at the last two events.
Dating back to the 2024 Las Vegas GP, when Hamilton was in the sister car, Russell had led his teammate in the championship for 30 straight weekends. That streak has now come to an end.
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