Andrea Stella hails Kimi Antonelli, says he expected George Russell to be stronger Mercedes driver

However, as it has turned out so far, it appears that Kimi Antonelli is the Mercedes driver with the upper hand after winning three races in a row in China, Japan, and Miami, as he now leads Russell by 20 points in the 2026 F1 Drivers' Championship.

Commenting on Antonelli's performance so far, Stella told the media in Miami: “I think we should really pay credit to the quality of the driving, the consistency, the speed in both a single lap in the race and overall execution. We should pay credit to what Kimi is showing and is actually delivering on track.

“I would have said after testing that George [Russell] was in a stronger position, which was the case until Australia, but for some reason things seem to have turned around. Once again, I think this is thanks to the good work that Kimi must be doing with his engineers and with the people around him.

“There's always a group of people around the driver, and success comes because this synergy works. I think Kimi must be having all these conditions in place. Well done to Kimi, well done to Mercedes," Stella concluded.

While Russell may have been unlucky in China and Japan, he simply had no answer for Antonelli's pace in Miami while also revealing that he tried some of the young Italian's setup during the Grand Prix, which helped him, a damning indication of how lost the Briton was that weekend.

However, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff insists Russell will respond to the challenge of Antonelli and will do that as early as the next F1 race in Montreal. (Reporting by Agnes Carlier)