George Russell has leapt to the defence of his Mercedes teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli during the Italian\u2019s rookie season, which has been somewhat of a rollercoaster.<\/p>\n
Despite being the leading rookie in the F1 drivers\u2019 standings, Antonelli\u2019s<\/a> performances with Mercedes this season have<\/a> left a lot to be desired. <\/p>\n The 18-year-old has scored points in just six of the 14 races this year, with Russell<\/a> only finishing one race outside the top 10 in the same period.<\/p>\n Position Drivers’ Championship PointsPts 1 284 2 275 3 187 4 172 5 151 6 109 7 64 <\/p>\n Antonelli has especially struggled during the European leg<\/a> of the season, with his 10th-place finish in Hungary being the only point that he has claimed on his home continent. <\/p>\n The struggles in his rookie season have led Ralf Schumacher to debunk the idea that Antonelli is the next Max Verstappen<\/a>. The former F1 race winner stated that he might be a \u2018strong driver\u2019, but he has doubts over him being the next racing phenomenon.<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0Know all about 2025 Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli including stats<\/a><\/p>\n George Russell has seen that Kimi Antonelli\u2019s Mercedes pace is \u2018no different\u2019 to his own<\/p>\n Speaking to Motorsport.com<\/a>, Russell came to the defence of his teenage teammate, highlighting a crucial aspect of Antonelli\u2019s data which has often been overlooked due to the lack of results on track.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact is, his pace delta to me is no different,\u201d Russell revealed. \u201cI think that\u2019s what people don\u2019t see. In Canada, I was on pole and he qualified fourth, but he was six tenths behind me. <\/p>\n \u201cIn Belgium, he was out in Q1 and I made it to Q3 but he was only three tenths off. People look at the underlying result, but the truth is he\u2019s still making progress, even though we as a team have gone backwards.<\/p>\n CategoryGeorge RussellAndrea Kimi Antonelli2025 points17264Grand Prix results140Grand Prix qualifying131Grand Prix wins10Grand Prix poles10Grand Prix podiums61Best finish1st3rdDisqualifications00Retirements02Retirements (classified finish)00Fastest laps22Grand Prix points finishes148Sprint results30Sprint Qualifying21Sprint wins00Sprint poles01Sprint podiums00The 2025 F1 teammate head-to-head battle of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli<\/p>\n \u201cBut suddenly, you\u2019re now in the fight where a tenth can be six or seven grid spots, whereas before, for the positions we were fighting for, a tenth was plus or minus one position. <\/p>\n \u201cKimi and I had just taken an equal step backwards over those last few races.\u201d<\/p>\n In another show of defence for his under-fire garage-mate, Russell expressed his admiration for how Antonelli has dealt with the media<\/a> in his rookie season.<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0Mercedes driver George Russell\u2019s life outside F1 from net worth to height<\/a><\/p>\n Mercedes have regressed in performance since the beginning of the season<\/p>\n In recent weeks, various Mercedes figures have noted that the majority of Antonelli\u2019s woes haven\u2019t been down to the driver himself, but it is instead down to the state of the W16 in its current era of development.<\/p>\n