George Russell says Mercedes dynamic not affected by Kimi Antonelli's winning streak

Mercedes delivered a winning package in the form of the W17, and while Russell dominated the opening race in Melbourne, Kimi Antonelli soon crashed his teammate's party, winning in Shanghai and Suzuka.

The Italian had been stronger in his second season with Mercedes, doing a great job while also making use of some bad luck affecting Russell with some reliability issues and Safety Car timing in Japan.

As a result, Antonelli currently leads the 2026 F1 Drivers' Championship, but Russell insists that is not affecting the approach within Mercedes, nor is it changing the team dynamic.

Russell was asked if Antonelli's lead has changed anything; he said: “No, not at all. I was asked the question this morning, and we were talking about the London Marathon.

“It made me think – the guy who’s running the London Marathon after three miles isn’t thinking about the finish line because he’s got 23 miles to go. We’re in race four of the season, so it’s not even a consideration.

“Of course [Kimi]’s done an amazing job so far this year. The last race was a little bit unfortunate from my side, but these things go one way one weekend and swing back later in the year.

"I’m experienced enough to know how a Championship works and there’s a long way ahead," the Briton maintained.

Much has been said about an intra-Mercedes rivalry, with some pointing out the tense rivalry the team had to deal with with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg in the first turbo-hybrid era.

But Russell insists that is not the case this time around adding: “It’s pretty clear—we fight each other hard, but we fight each other fair.

“Right now, there’s lots of talk about the fight between Kimi and I, but we also need to make sure that we continue being the ones to beat.

“Last year it was Oscar [Piastri] and Lando [Norris], and from nowhere, you had [Max] Verstappen come. Charles [Leclerc] is doing a great job, Lewis [Hamilton] is fast, and McLaren are bringing their upgrade this weekend. I’m sure Red Bull won’t be in this position forever as well, so we can’t take it for granted.

“I’m just going about my business as usual. I want to be on pole, I want to make a good start, I want to at least be at the first corner in the position I started and fight for victory," Russell concluded. (Reporting by Agnes Carlier)