George Russell: Beating Hamilton was not the ultimate proof of his talent
For years, George Russell’s greatest calling card was the fact that he had outperformed Lewis Hamilton in their head-to-head battle at Mercedes. But the rise of Kimi Antonelli is beginning to reshape the balance of power inside the Brackley team—and, with it, the perception of Russell himself.
The opening races of the 2026 Formula 1 season appeared to offer one certainty: Mercedes had built the car to beat. The W17 looked dominant in every area, seemingly a clear step ahead of the rest of the field. As the championship has progressed, however, and rival teams have introduced major upgrades, it has become increasingly clear that the picture is more complicated than it first appeared. Mercedes has weaknesses of its own, and those flaws have become more visible race after race.
That does not mean the W17 is not a strong project. Quite the opposite—it remains one of the benchmark cars of the season. Even so, the car has significant issues which, over a full championship campaign, could make it increasingly difficult to hold off rivals such as Ferrari. Despite still carrying a power unit deficit, Ferrari has emerged as an exceptionally solid package from both a chassis and aerodynamic perspective.
Mercedes’ W17 problems have changed the dynamic inside the garage
The reliability issues have inevitably affected both drivers, forcing them into retirements that could ultimately prove costly in the title fight. George Russell’s retirement in Canada is a perfect example. While leading the race and engaged in a close battle with his teammate, he was forced to pull over after suffering a power unit failure.
Later in Barcelona, the same fate struck Kimi Antonelli, who was forced to retire just three laps from the finish because of an electrical problem.
Ironically, it is precisely these imperfections that have brought another topic into the spotlight during recent races: the direct comparison between Mercedes’ two drivers.
Russell started the season in impressive fashion, claiming both pole position and victory at the Australian Grand Prix. Yet almost immediately, Antonelli—if the expression is allowed—completely overshadowed him by winning five consecutive races between China and Monaco.
That naturally raises several questions. Is Russell simply uncomfortable with the W17? Or is Antonelli simply the faster driver? Could Russell have expected a different status within the team, and has the absence of preferential treatment affected him psychologically?
The first clues come from the drivers themselves. Russell has admitted on several occasions that he has never felt completely comfortable with this year’s car, even revealing that he experimented with some of Antonelli’s setup directions without finding the same level of performance.
Jolyon Palmer: “Antonelli drives beyond the W17’s limit”
Further support for that theory comes from former Renault driver Jolyon Palmer, who discussed the situation on the F1 Nation podcast. Drawing on conversations with members of the Mercedes team, Palmer attempted to explain what currently separates George Russell from Kimi Antonelli.
“He doesn’t seem to have a clear explanation for what’s happening,” the former Formula 1 driver said.
“I was speaking with some of the Mercedes guys and they were saying, ‘Well, it really seems like Kimi is able to drive the car much closer to the limit of available grip than George.'”
Palmer continued: “Russell reaches the point where he feels the car beginning to slide and, unless it’s a Q3 lap or a moment that gives him that extra push to take risks, he doesn’t quite manage to extract 100% of what the car is capable of.”
He then highlighted what could explain the performance gap seen so far this season.
“They were almost saying that George is driving the car just below its maximum potential, whereas Kimi is completely in tune with the behaviour of the car. He has an internal sensitivity, which is essentially that natural talent for feeling what the car is doing, and he’s able to exploit it more consistently.”
These conclusions are not simply based on opinions or race-day impressions, but on the team’s performance data.
“When you study the data, you often see that Kimi delivers the lap time immediately on his first run with a new set of tyres. George gets very close on the second lap. Maybe Kimi takes that little bit of extra risk on the first lap, when the tyre offers the most grip, and extracts more from it. It’s something George is feeling himself, and I don’t know how easy that is to fix.”
Is George Russell really the driver we have been told he is?
Palmer’s comments, combined with what we have seen during the opening nine races of the 2026 championship, naturally invite a broader reflection on Russell’s standing.
To be clear, George Russell is an excellent Formula 1 driver. He possesses undeniable talent and absolutely has the qualities required to become a future world champion. However, Kimi Antonelli‘s emergence inevitably raises the question of whether Russell is truly the driver many have believed him to be over the past few seasons.
Russell is now in his fifth season as a Mercedes driver. Before Antonelli’s arrival, he shared the garage with a seven-time world champion in Lewis Hamilton. That partnership took place during the current ground-effect regulations—a generation of Formula 1 cars with which Hamilton never appeared fully comfortable.
The moments when Lewis Hamilton truly excelled were relatively rare, such as his victory at Silverstone in 2024. We also saw him struggle during his first season at Ferrari, where different types of challenges further complicated his adaptation.
That context partly explains why Russell so often came out on top in the intra-team battle. With Antonelli’s arrival, however, Russell was expected to remain the team’s reference point.
He managed to do so during Antonelli’s rookie campaign, fulfilling the team’s objectives while also benefiting—if the expression can be used—from the difficulties experienced by the young Italian, particularly during the European leg of the season. This year, however, the situation has completely changed, perhaps catching Russell by surprise.
Setting aside the psychological games and radio exchanges—which are, after all, part of Formula 1—it seems evident that Russell is feeling the pressure of competing directly against his teammate.
If there are no obvious limitations from a purely driving perspective, perhaps some difficulties are beginning to emerge on the psychological side. Formula 1 has always been an intensely mental sport, and that could ultimately become the area where Russell risks losing ground.
Even during the most recent race weekend, Russell complained over team radio about an apparent lack of power on the straights, only for Toto Wolff to immediately contradict that assessment.
Of course, that single episode is far from enough to support a definitive conclusion. Everyone understands that countless factors influence performance during a Formula 1 weekend. Nevertheless, the underlying question remains.
Is George Russell really the driver many have portrayed him to be over the past few years? Is he genuinely the man who defeated a seven-time world champion on merit, or was that achievement made easier because Lewis Hamilton never truly felt comfortable with that generation of Mercedes cars?
And today, are we really looking only at a matter of feeling with the W17, or has the time come to ask a far more uncomfortable question: has George Russell, perhaps, been overrated?
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