Parc Ferme: Is George Russell becoming Mercedes’ second chair?

Two convincing victories in, he was starting to look like a certainty. Then the world changed.

First, his young apprentice stole his thunder in China. And while Kimi Antonelli’s win had a big assist from a fortuitous Safety Car, you do have to be in it to win it, and the young Italian driver certainly was.

There has never been any doubt that Antonelli possessed the raw speed, but there’s more to winning the races and the championship than that alone.

Sir Jackie Stewart said it best with his famous quote, “I’m not the fastest on the track, I just win the races”. Stewart was referring to race craft, of course, and the strategic judgements required to be the first to take the chequered flag.

Kimi, now with three wins and poles on the bounce, has proved, with the help of “Uncle Bono”, that he can combine both.

The brakes were then further applied to Russell’s position with the outbreak of hostilities between the US, Israel and Iran, precipitating the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix.

The subsequent unforced break in the season had two effects: Firstly, it gave the other teams a chance to catch their development breath, allowing at least McLaren to significantly close the gap to the W17.

Secondly, it allowed Kimi to soak up the confidence-inducing victory in China. This, as opposed to George, who had a month to consider the likely impact of his ‘bête noire’ victory.

Further fuel for the young Englishman’s angst has been added by the now public knowledge that his biggest rival from previous years is considering jumping the leaking Red Bull ship.

While re-joining his favourite race engineer makes McLaren look like his preferred destination, he did date Toto Wolff for a brief period last year.

Although it’s also possible that Toto would not want to expose Antonelli to the Max Verstappen teammate effect. 

It was revealed recently that Russell’s Mercedes contract includes a performance-based automatic renewal clause for 2027. This suggests his future is entirely in his own hands, depending on his results this season.

However, Parc Ferme would not entirely agree with this prognosis. George is fast being downgraded from team leader to wingman in the Mercedes driver pecking order.  

There was one telling radio communication in China just before the restart of the race post-safety car. Russell asked if Kimi’s approach would be as they had practiced.

The answer was not definitive. In all likelihood, Peter Bonnington probably told Antonelli to do whatever was best for him; George was not a priority. 

Probably George’s greatest challenge is that Antonelli is adorable, like an enthusiastic young puppy that’s already learned to bring home the game. This makes him a natural emotional magnet for the team. Whereas George is many things, but an emotional magnet is not one of them.

The ability to get everyone focused on you as a driver rather than your teammate is critical in winning a World Championship. This is not a battle George can win unless he starts taking victories fast.

If Russel doesn’t change the state of play soon, he will stay in the team’s shadow for the rest of the season. With the door to the Formula 1 silly season starting to open already, it could be a good time for Russell to consider a Plan B?