George Russell declares true Kimi Antonelli stance as F1 title fight resumes

George Russell has declared that his relationship with Kimi Antonelli remains "very good" and that they are not "talking about" their fight for the F1 crown.

Antonelli leads his team leader by nine points heading into the Miami Grand Prix weekend, having won two races to Russell's one before the April break, with Mercedes largely expected to remain in title contention, despite the raft of rule changes coming into effect this weekend.

Neither driver has experience of being involved in an F1 title fight, although Mercedes does have prior experience of such an intra-team battle through the Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg rivalry.

Addressing how the two current drivers are managing the situation, Russell declared that his sole focus was on extracting performance from the W17 and that the title was not on his mind.

"Not at all, to be honest," Russell told media, including RacingNews365, when asked if his relationship with Antonelli had changed, given what could be at stake.

"I think we're both professionals, we've still got a very good relationship, and it is something that we're not even talking about, to be honest.

"Within the team, it is not even being spoken about.

"I remember when I was a junior driver here in 2017-2018, when the fight was pretty strong with Ferrari, the championship wasn't even on anybody's mind.

"What was on everybody's mind was performance and getting the maximum from every single weekend, developing the car.

"That's my personal mentality, I can't speak for Kimi, but that's how it is for now."