George Russell Told to “Destroy” Kimi Antonelli in Brutal Title Warning

George Russell has been backed by Juan Pablo Montoya to 'destroy' Kimi Antonelli in terms of results on track at the Japanese GP.

George Russell Told to “Destroy” Kimi Antonelli in Brutal Title Warning

Kimi Antonelli and George Russell (via F1)

In Short
  • Mercedes achieved two consecutive one-two finishes in the first two races of the 2026 season.
  • George Russell leads the championship by four points over Kimi Antonelli after winning the Australian GP and Antonelli winning the Chinese GP.
  • Juan Pablo Montoya advised Russell to "destroy" Antonelli at the Japanese GP to gain a psychological advantage in their intra-team battle.

Mercedes has started the 2026 regulations on a great note. The German carmaker achieved two consecutive one-two finishes in the first two races of the season. Now, the intra-team battle between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli will be interesting to witness as the two Silver Arrows go to war for the championship victory.

George Russell started the season off well by picking up a victory at the season opener Australian GP. Meanwhile, Kimi Antonelli responded by winning the subsequent Chinese GP. As such, Russell leads the title fight by just four points over the Italian. Many people have already warned the Briton against taking the 19-year-old too lightly in the championship battle.

Now, former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has suggested to George Russell what to do at the upcoming Japanese GP. Montoya highlighted that Russell had more to lose than the Italian had to win. The Spaniard recalled that Chinese GP, claiming that the stars lined up to help Antonelli win in the previous race weekend. Ultimately, it gave the 19-year-old great confidence to further fight on track for race wins.

I would say it is that George has more to lose than it being Kimi’s to win, I think everything lined up for Kimi to get the win between the safety car and George’s problems in qualifying, but he executed, and he did what we needed to do, and that will give him some confidence.

Juan Pablo Montoya told RacingNews365.

Further, Juan Pablo Montoya pointed out that it was important for George Russell to come into the Japanese GP and ‘destroy’ Kimi Antonelli on track. Russell had to control what went on in Antonelli’s head to emerge victorious in the intra-team battle. Montoya believes that managing this factor can make a big difference in the mindset of the two Silver Arrows.

I think it is important for George to make sure he goes to the next race and destroys Kimi, because when you are in F1, it is about managing the situation with your team-mate and about controlling what is going on in your team-mate’s head. Managing that, and managing that well, can make a big difference.

Juan Pablo Montoya added.

George Russell accepts Mercedes being at an ‘advantage’ with a caveat

It is no secret that Mercedes has been the most dominant team on the grid in the 2026 season. Brackley seems untouched in terms of pace, atleast for the first two races. Now, George Russell accepts that the German carmaker is at an advantage this year; however, there is a twist. The Briton believes that there will be changes and development in the rival team’s performance over the season.

George Russell (via XPBimages)
George Russell (via XPBimages)

George Russell continued that McLaren was still running their Bahrain GP package with no updates to the car. He highlighted that though Mercedes was at an advantage, they simply hit the ground running well. Russell hoped for the positive performance to continue, but he is aware that there is no guarantee of it. If the past is any indicator, the rivals will definitely start developing and improving slowly but surely.

It’s a big old season, so things will change. We’ve already seen Red Bull is overweight, some things we saw in the press last week. McLaren haven’t brought an upgrade to the car. They’re still running their Bahrain package. We shouldn’t forget these things. We do have an advantage right now, but I think we’ve just really hit the ground running and done a great job. We hope it continues. But there is no guarantee.

George Russell said, as reported by RacingNews365

Certainly, the 2026 season has just begun and has 20 more races to go until completion. Though Mercedes seems to be the clear favorite, anything can happen down the season. Time will tell about how Brackley manages to cope with the development of the rivals and keep up with their positive pace so far.

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