Mercedes battle in Miami: Antonelli on top, Russell under pressure
George Russell has started the Miami Grand Prix weekend in the shadow of his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, with the young Italian consistently finishing ahead across all sessions so far. However, the most striking difference came in qualifying for the main race, where Russell suffered a significant gap to the Bologna-born rookie.
With nearly half a second separating them, Antonelli secured pole position, while the 28-year-old British driver had to settle for fifth on the grid. Despite the setback in qualifying, Russell’s race pace is typically stronger, and he has made it clear that his focus is not on damage limitation, but on maximising the final result.
Race pace confidence and Sprint insights
The race will be a long one, with 57 laps where anything can happen. In the Sprint, Russell reduced Antonelli’s championship lead from nine points to seven, benefiting from a small mistake at the start by the Italian and a penalty that affected Antonelli’s result.
“I’m quite happy with my pace,” said George Russell after the Sprint. “Obviously, if I had done things slightly differently, I could have held the position when I initially overtook Kimi, but it’s only in qualifying where I’ve struggled this weekend.”
Russell targets full performance in changing conditions
Looking ahead to the main race, many scenarios remain open, especially with rain included in the weather forecast. The Sunday schedule has already been impacted by a major change, with the start time moved forward by three hours: lights out will now take place at 19:00 CET instead of 22:00.
Russell may also benefit indirectly from the drivers ahead of him, should he be able to challenge Kimi Antonelli during the race. When asked whether more competitive cars like Verstappen, Leclerc, and Norris could help his race, he responded:
“Potentially, but to be honest I don’t know. Tomorrow, who knows what the weather will be like. It will be interesting. I’m not thinking about ‘limiting the damage’. I’m just trying to maximise the result, and that’s what I’ve done.”
“Sunday is a completely different day, the weather is uncertain. And we’ve seen, even with the starts, that everything can change in the first 200 metres. Rain? There are so many unknowns, we’ve never driven these cars with narrower tyres in the wet, and we’ll obviously have to see whether it will be intermediate conditions or full wet tyres.”
Key performance concerns
George Russell also pointed to specific weaknesses that explain his struggles in qualifying, highlighting difficult conditions that do not suit his driving style.
“I struggle on circuits with low grip and high temperatures,” he explained, underlining the key factors behind his performance gap in Miami.
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