George Russell says Kimi Antonelli’s championship lead is “not even a consideration” at this stage of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Italian teenager Antonelli is nine points ahead of Russell and looking for a hat-trick of race wins as F1 returns this weekend in Miami with a Sprint event.
Antonelli, who is the youngest championship leader in F1 history at 19 years old, is only in his second F1 campaign but neither Mercedes driver has mounted a serious title fight in the sport.
Asked whether Antonelli leading the standings changed the dynamic at Mercedes, Russell said: “No, not at all. I got asked the question this morning, and we were talking about the London Marathon, and it made me think.
“The guy who’s running the London Marathon, after three miles, you’re not thinking about the finish line, because you’ve got 23 miles to go. And we’re in race four. It’s not even a consideration. Of course, he’s done an amazing job so far this year.
“The last race was a little bit unfortunate from my side. But these things, they go one way one weekend and then they swing back later in the year. I’m experienced enough to know how a championship works, and [there’s] a long way ahead.”
George Russell says hopefully Mercedes will stay on top after the FIA tweaked the new regulations ahead of the Miami Grand Prix
Russell believes he’s maximised his performance so far this season in the circumstances handed to him and pointed to seasons in his junior career when he did not win each weekend.
“The championships I fought and won as a youngster, they weren’t winning every single weekend,” he said.
“You have weekends where the car breaks down, you have a weekend where you have an incident, you have a weekend where you’re unfortunate. That’s the same with the guys who were fighting for the championship last year.
“You’re always going to have these difficult weekends. I hope every difficult weekend results in either P2 in China, like we had, or P4 in Japan. If that is my difficult weekend, I’m pretty bad, happy with that. So I’m hoping just to have a smooth weekend, and I know with a smooth weekend, I can win.”
Jenson Button doesn’t think Kimi Antonelli’s two race wins will faze George Russell in his pursuit for the World Championship
Mercedes with different upgrade plan to rivals
The five-week gap since the last F1 race means every team have brought upgrades to Miami, but some are larger than others.
Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull have some major new parts but Mercedes are splitting their next developments over the next two rounds in Miami, then Canada.
“We’re a bit surprised some people have brought their upgrades to Miami. I think that was probably more they were meant to have brought it to Bahrain or Saudi,” said Russell.
“We expected a lot of teams to be bringing their upgrades to Montreal. We’ll have a slightly bigger upgrade we hope in Canada, because obviously there’s still two weeks after Miami before Canada. Let’s see, hopefully they haven’t caught up too much.”
David Croft and Martin Brundle discuss if Kimi Antonelli could be a real challenge to senior Mercedes team-mate George Russell?
Antonelli, who is returning to the venue where he took his first F1 pole position in Sprint Qualifying in Miami 12 months ago, is expecting Mercedes’ rivals to be more competitive compared to the opening three rounds.
“It’s going to be a very interesting weekend for us. We’re not really bringing anything, to be fair, just very small things, whilst other teams are bringing big upgrades, such as Ferrari and McLaren,” he said.
“Also Red Bull, they’re bringing an upgrade. So, let’s see how we’re going to do. For sure they’re going to get closer, and we might have to fight quite a bit more this weekend.
“But, we’ll do our best, we’re going to keep our head down. And on my side I’m going to try to maximise the performance in the car and going to try to do my best, and then we’ll see what the result will be.”
Sky Sports F1’s Miami GP schedule
The Miami Grand Prix is a unique experience, watch our favourite moments from the last few years!
Friday May 1
2.35pm: F2 Practice
4.30pm: Miami GP Practice One (session starts at 5pm)*
7.25pm: F2 Qualifying
8.10pm: Team Bosses’ Press Conference
8.40pm: Miami GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 9.30pm)
Saturday May 2
2.55pm: F2 Sprint
4pm: Miami GP Sprint build-up
5pm: MIAMI GP SPRINT
6.30pm: Ted’s Sprint Notebook
8pm: Miami GP Qualifying build-up*
9pm: MIAMI GP QUALIFYING*
11pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*
Sunday May 3
5.25pm: F2 Feature Race
7pm: Miami GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
9pm: THE MIAMI GRAND PRIX*
11pm: Miami GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
12am: Ted’s Notebook*
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 is in Miami for a Sprint weekend as the 2026 season resumes, watch live on Sky Sports F1 with Sunday’s Grand Prix at 9pm. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
