George Russell says he has “not forgotten how to drive” and retains confidence in his growing title battle with Kimi Antonelli regardless of being clearly outperformed by his Mercedes team-mate on the Miami Grand Prix.
Russell backed up his standing as pre-season title favorite by successful the opening race in Australia after which the primary Dash in China however has since needed to watch Antonelli declare the primary three grand prix wins of his profession in successive races.
The gulf between the pair in Miami was the most important it has been between them at any race this yr, with Antonelli taking pole and successful as Russell completed 43 seconds behind the 19-year-old Italian in fourth.
The consequence prolonged Antonelli’s lead over Russell on the high of the drivers’ standings to twenty factors with 4 of twenty-two rounds full, with the result seeing {the teenager} changing the Brit because the title favorite with UK bookmakers.
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Highlights from the 2026 Miami Grand Prix.
Talking straight after the race, Russell advised Sky Sports activities F1: “He [Antonelli] is a incredible driver and has been exceptionally fast since day one. He is gained all the championships as a teenager.
“I’ve still got confidence in myself and have also been there. I’ve not forgotten how to drive. It’s just a little bit of a tricky run but we are four races down, a long way to go and I think, we will reassess things over the next few weeks.”
The top results of the weekend was truly notably higher than it might need been for Russell, who mentioned after qualifying that he considers the Miami Worldwide Autodrome one thing of a bogey monitor attributable to its low-grip nature not suiting his exact driving fashion.
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Watch the last-lap drama that noticed Kimi Antonelli win the Miami Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc spin, and George Russell limp residence with wing harm.
As a substitute of dropping a degree to Antonelli when he completed a spot behind his team-mate on monitor in Saturday’s Dash, Russell gained on him two as a result of the Italian sloppily earned a five-second time penalty for breaching monitor limits too many instances, which dropped him two locations.
Then in Sunday’s race, Russell gained an additional place – and two further factors – on the ultimate lap after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc spun into the limitations on the penultimate circuit.
Reflecting on Sunday’s motion, Russell added: “A troublesome race. The start felt OK. These early laps I used to be within the struggle, then the onerous tyre I used to be nowhere.
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Charles Leclerc was given a 20-second penalty for slicing a number of corners on the ultimate lap, a results of the Ferrari driver spinning and damaging his automobile.
“I got some ideas in the last 10 laps. We were much more competitive. I made some quite big changes with my differentials and brake bias and was much closer to what Kimi was running this whole weekend, and it made a bigger impact than I thought.
“Not a great weekend. I do know this place is an actual robust one for me. The true take a look at will come on the subsequent few.”
Button: Russell probably thinking ‘what just happened?’
Sky Sports F1 pundit and former world champion Jenson Button believes Russell will be shocked by Antonelli’s form, but is backing the Brit to hit back at the next round in Canada later in May.
Button said: “I feel George might be considering, ‘what simply occurred?’ He was the favorite, the quickest in the beginning of the yr, and Kimi is exceptionally gifted.
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Toto Wolff says George Russell won’t ever cease preventing and that the 20-point hole from teammate Kimi Antonelli will not deter him.
“But the thing with George is he’s confident in himself. He knows he’s got the skill and I’m really happy he’s letting us all know certain things aren’t right. I think that’s the best way to say it because then you can work on those issues moving forward.
“In case you bottle it up inside, it is the worst factor potential. He is doing the proper factor, and I feel he’ll come out sturdy in Canada.”
Sky Sports F1 pundit Naomi Schiff says that Russell will at least take reassurance from the fact that Antonelli has made some mistakes this season, such as the ones in Saturday’s Sprint.
“He is a really onerous employee however no driver desires to be crushed by their team-mate, actually not George,” Schiff mentioned.
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Watch the perfect moments from Martin Brundle’s star-studded Miami grid stroll.
“He’s spent a lot of years at Williams, then finally made the move to Mercedes without a competitive car. Now he’s got one and his team-mate has been beating him.
“He’ll take reassurance in that Kimi hasn’t been faultless and he’ll make errors this season and possibly George’s consistency is what helps him out.
“But he’s got to contend with Kimi’s raw speed and the fact he can deliver incredible lap time. It’s never nice but I’m sure he can bounce back.”
Method 1 subsequent heads to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and one other Dash weekend. Watch dwell on Sky Sports activities F1 on Could 22-24. Stream Sky Sports activities with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
