George Russell has been credited with playing a part in Kimi Antonelli's title success Mercedes has claimed that Kimi Antonelli’s success in Formula 1 owes much to George Russell, as the team wouldn’t have been able to initially promote the newly crowned champion without the presence of a driver of his team-mate’s calibre. The decision to pick Antonelli as Lewis Hamilton’s successor when the seven-time F1 champion opted to move to Ferrari in 2025 has paid dividends for Mercedes this year. Mercedes credits George Russell after Kimi Antonelli Following an inconsistent debut campaign, Antonelli has capitalised on the German marque beginning F1’s latest regulation overhaul as the benchmark team to win nine races en route to becoming the youngest-ever title winner at 20 years and 66 days. On the opposite side of the garage, however, Russell has endured a wretched season, with various issues outside of his control conspiring to dent his hopes of challenging. Nonetheless, in an email that Mercedes boss Toto Wolff addressed to the whole team, the Briton was credited with playing an integral role in Antonelli’s meteoric ascension. Wolff explained how Mercedes could only gamble on filling the void left by Hamilton with a rookie due to how well Russell had performed since his own graduation in 2022. Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord, who posted the contents of Wolff’s touching letter on LinkedIn, concurred that the team is massively indebted to Russell. “Toto made a brilliant point last week: he sent an email to the whole factory, and he made the point that without a driver of George’s calibre, we as a team strategically would not have been able to take the risk of bringing a rookie in as we did with Kimi and take that calculated risk, but a risk nonetheless,” Lord said on Mercedes’ Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show. “And that’s because we know in George we have a driver who is capable of racing for and winning world championships. It’s really important that we don’t lose sight of that in the excitement around Kimi’s story and his development as a Mercedes-grown driver from the junior programme.” Lord divulged that he reminded Russell post-race in Brazil, where Mercedes clinched the Constructors’ title, that he had still won his first-ever championship, though he did contribute three points to the team’s 2020 haul when he stood in for Hamilton in Sakhir. But although Lord acknowledged that the ongoing campaign has been Russell’s most productive in F1 to date with three victories, it has also not been the year the driver hoped for. “It’s been both the most successful season of his career in Formula 1 and the most challenging and disappointing season for him at the same time,” he recognised. “As you say, he’s absolutely been through the wringer in terms of some of the misfortune that he’s suffered. “Each time he’s had a disappointment, he’s also shown himself capable of bouncing back from it.” Meanwhile, Mercedes technical director James Allison elucidated that he has been impressed by how Russell has squared up to his teammate’s improved competitiveness. “He’s one of the most honest drivers I’ve ever had the good fortune to work with,” Allison added. “He can see the areas where Kimi has been quicker than him this year, and he knows that those are things he needs to bring to the table to compete on equal or better terms with this precocious young talent. “And I do very much admire the fact that he looks straight down the barrel of that.”
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