Potentially engaging in an intra-team fight for the title, George Russell is adamant Mercedes will be fair to both drivers, even though he entered the campaign as the pre-season favourite.<\/p>\n
Five years into his Mercedes career, and in his eighth season on the grid, Russell is finally eyeing a championship fight. But it\u2019s against his teammate, Kimi Antonelli.<\/p>\n
George Russell backs Mercedes fairness in Kimi Antonelli fight<\/p>\n
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Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n Although the Briton had the better of the Italian at the Australian Grand Prix, clinching pole position and the win before adding a further eight points in the Sprint in China, it\u2019s been all Antonelli<\/a> since.<\/p>\n The 19-year-old capitalised on Russell\u2019s \u201cdamage limitation\u201d in qualifying in China to take pole position and fought his way through the fast-starting Ferraris to clinch his maiden grand prix win.<\/p>\n He made it two from two in Japan, when he put his W17 on pole position ahead of Russell only to drop to sixth before the timing of a Safety Car allowed Antonelli to retain the lead.<\/p>\n A perfect 25 plus 25 in grands prix meant Antonelli took the lead from Russell in the intra-Mercedes fight by nine points.<\/p>\n Mercedes F1 2026: Antonelli v Russell<\/p>\n F1 2026: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between teammates<\/a><\/p>\n F1 2026: Head-to-head race statistics between teammates<\/a><\/p>\n It was an unexpected turnaround with the Briton billed as the Mercedes driver to win the title.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, not at all, to be honest,\u201d Russell said of that, \u201cbecause it\u2019s a hell of a long season.<\/p>\n \u201cNo championship is ever been won after three races. So for me, it\u2019s always important to maximise the results.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not leading my championship, but I got to be honest, when I look at the circumstance of the last two races, I actually feel like I\u2019ve maximised my results, and that\u2019s all I can do.<\/p>\n \u201cIf things have gone slightly differently in Suzuka, I think I could have won that race if there was no safety car at all, I think I\u2019d have finished second in that race behind Piastri.<\/p>\n \u201cIn, China obviously had to qualify an issue, and I think otherwise, I potentially could have been on pole there.<\/p>\n \u201cSo when I look at things rationally, I think I\u2019ve maximised my results this year. And when I have a clean weekend, as I have in Melbourne, I know I can, I\u2019ve got the capability of being on pole and winning the race.<\/p>\n \u201cSo obviously I was frustrated coming away from China and Japan, but that\u2019s always going to happen at some point in the season, and I\u2019m actually quite thankful that I still managed to get some decent points on the board.\u201d<\/p>\n The Briton, the pre-season favourited, isn\u2019t worried that the tables are moving away from him. After all, he\u2019s adamant Mercedes will be fair on both drivers.<\/p>\n Speaking to PlanetF1.com and other invited media, Russell said: \u201cFirstly, 100 per cent they\u2019ll give the same opportunity to the two of us. That\u2019s always been the case for Mercedes, ever since the Lewis and Rosberg days. <\/p>\n \u201cYou know, of course, I hope it\u2019s just the two of us going for the championship, but I don\u2019t want to get ahead of ourselves, because I\u2019ve said this numerous times, in 2022 after three races, I think Leclerc had a 30 plus point lead and Verstappen saying, the championship is over, and Ferrari were the quickest. And then at the end, they were not. <\/p>\n \u201cI think we have a very good direction. I think the correlation is very good. We\u2019re ticking all of the boxes that tell us we have a really great foundation with the car. But of course, these things change. <\/p>\n \u201cWe know McLaren has not brought a major update recently, and when you look at their performance in Suzuka, Piastri could have won that race without any Safety Car at all. <\/p>\n \u201cSo, you know, I\u2019m just taking it race by race. The championship is not even in my mind. I just go through every race, try and maximise the performance, and we\u2019ll count the points at the end of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n As for his relationship with championship leader Antonelli, Russell says nothing has changed. They\u2019re just two teammates in one team both chasing the top prize in Formula 1.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, not at all. To be honest, I think we\u2019re both professional. We\u2019ve still got a very good relationship, and it\u2019s something we\u2019re not even talking about within the team, it\u2019s not even being spoken about. <\/p>\n \u201cI even remember when I was a junior driver here in 2017, 2018 when the fight was pretty strong at points with Ferrari for the team, the championship wasn\u2019t even on anyone\u2019s mind. What was on everybody\u2019s mind was performance and getting the maximum every single weekend, developing the car. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s my personal mentality. I can\u2019t speak for Kimi, but you know that\u2019s how it is for.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n