- Kimi Antonelli says Mercedes lets him and George Russell race.
- The current championship leader wants to avoid a toxic team rivalry.
- Mercedes trusts both drivers but will intervene to protect the points.
Kimi Antonelli says Mercedes is still letting him and George Russell race freely, but the championship leader has made clear that their 2026 title fight cannot be allowed to turn into a repeat of the Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg years.
Antonelli addressed the Mercedes team-mate dynamic while speaking at a media event in Brisighella, where he received the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy.
According to Motorsport.com, the 19-year-old said Mercedes trusts both drivers to race without strict team orders for now, while also recognising that the team may step in if the battle risks becoming damaging.
The message was simple: Antonelli and Russell can fight hard, but the priority must remain avoiding contact and keeping Mercedes in control of both championships.
The Mercedes fight has already become the defining story of the 2026 Formula 1 season. Antonelli leads the drivers’ standings on 131 points, with Russell second on 88, while Mercedes heads the constructors’ table on 219 points.
No repeat for Mercedes
This is exactly the sort of tension F1 fans wanted from the new Mercedes era: two fast drivers, a car good enough to win, and a team trying to let the racing commence without letting the garage split in two.
The danger is obvious. Hamilton and Rosberg produced one of modern F1’s most compelling rivalries, but it also became a management problem for Mercedes. Antonelli’s mentioning it shows he understands how quickly a title fight can turn from competitive pressure into lost points.
For Russell, the situation is already delicate. He has the experience, he had the pace to fight for victory in Canada, and his championship deficit is more about reliability pain than lack of speed. For Antonelli, the challenge is different: he has momentum, a points lead and four straight Grand Prix wins, but must prove he can stay aggressive without giving Mercedes a reason to restrict him.
Battery issue for George
Canada sharpened the whole picture. It was a very close, edgy early battle between the Mercedes pair before Russell retired on Lap 30 with a power unit issue, leaving Antonelli to take victory and extend his championship lead.
Mercedes later explained that Russell’s retirement was caused by a battery failure, with technical director James Allison saying the team still needed to understand the underlying cause. Russell was leading until the car stopped, which made it harder to take.
Monaco now arrives with Mercedes in the best position of any team, but with Ferrari being talked of as a possible threat and overtaking traditionally at a premium. If Mercedes locks out the front again, the Russell-Antonelli rules of engagement will come under the microscope immediately.
The Euro season will make the picture clearer
Mercedes does not need to choose a number one yet. The points table says Antonelli has earned status as the championship leader, but Russell is still close enough that imposing team orders would be premature and potentially corrosive.
The next few races will tell us whether Mercedes can manage the freedom it is offering. If the pair keep it clean, the team gets the best possible version of a title-contending line-up. If they trip over each other, Toto Wolff will have to intervene before rivals return to the fight.
