This was supposed to be George Russell ’s chance to shoot for the Formula 1 title.
Coming into the season as Mercedes’s presumptive lead driver, with his team producing the best car after a rulebook overhaul, Russell looked perfectly positioned to compete for the world championship after winning the year’s opening race in Australia.
That was when his second-year teammate Kimi Antonelli blew past him and took the Formula 1 circuit by storm.
Antonelli has made F1 history on several counts this season. At age 19, he became the youngest pole-sitter en route to his first win in China, followed by becoming F1’s youngest points leader after a win in Japan.
The bushy-haired Italian just kept going, sweeping the alliterative triple of Miami, Montreal and Monaco to make it five in a row and tie the longest winning streak ever managed by F1 victory leader Lewis Hamilton.
He will now try to make it six of six at the newly renamed Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix — the race formerly known as the Spanish GP — on Sunday.
And while he's perfectly aware that he is now the driver to beat, Antonelli is trying not to let it get to him.
“About the championship, I am not really worrying about it," he said on Thursday at the Montmelo track. "I know the opportunity that is on the table and I want to make the most out of it, but at the same time I don’t want to drive a race thinking about it.
"I want to enjoy the weekend as much as possible and drive as fast as possible and we will see at the end of the season where we are.”
Russell needs to make up for lost ground
While F1 discovered its new star driver, Russell found himself floundering for the first time with Mercedes, where he had managed to better Hamilton before the British driver left for Ferrari two years ago. That huge move opened the door for Antonelli to join the Silver Arrows.
The 28-year-old Russell, who is liked for his schoolboy charm and chatter on team radio that has included gems such as “Yabba Dabba Doo” and “get the kettle on,” now faces his most difficult moment since joining Mercedes four years ago.
Last season, Russell outperformed Antonelli, scoring two victories and earning 319 points, the fourth-most points of the grid, while his new partner was seventh with 150 points and no victories.
Now, Antonelli’s winning run has him leading the championship with 156 points after six races. Hamilton, who is enjoying a resurgence at Ferrari, is next with 90. Russell is third with 88.
“The pressure feels off, to be honest. I’m just going to try and enjoy every race, not even thinking about a championship,” Russell said on Thursday. “It’s so far out of reach right now that it’s just go and enjoy the races and have fun, drive fast and do what I know I’m capable of doing and what I’ve done for my whole career in Formula 1.”
Could Barcelona, an old-school, permanent, high-speed track that drivers know well from their years of racing and testing here, give Russell the chance he needs?
Russell has never been on the podium here in seven tries with Mercedes and Williams. But he has come close with three fourth-place finishes, including the past two years. That is partly because he has never had a top-three finish in qualifying either, so a strong Saturday will be key.
Another triumph by Antonelli would have him match Russell’s career victory haul of six races won.
Russell said he has come to the conclusion that he needs to stop overthinking, obsessing about data, and get back to “driving by instinct.”
“I don’t want to chase the dream, I want it to come toward me. And it will come towards me if I take it race by race,” he said.
Barcelona to take a break next year
From 1991 until last year, the race at the circuit located half an hour by car from Barcelona (on a normal day without F1 fan traffic) was called the Spanish Grand Prix.
Now it is called the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, while the Spanish GP name has been given to the new race to be held for the first time in Madrid in September.
The future of the Barcelona race was in doubt until F1 announced a deal struck in February to continue holding it, but every other year while it alternates with the Belgium GP. The Barcelona race will be held in 2028, 2030 and 2032.
