George Russell warned of 'real threat' in hunt for maiden F1 title

Former F1 driver David Coulthard has stated George Russell is now facing a “real threat” for the drivers' championship in team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

Russell emerged as the early title favourite when Mercedes' advantage over the rest of the field was realised in Australia, where Russell took the opening grand prix win of the year.

However, Antonelli responded with a run to victory last time out in China, while Russell was forced to settle for the runner-up spot.

With the Brackley-based squad enjoying a strong advantage over the rest of the competition, it has emerged as the most likely contender to emerge victorious in the title fight at the end of the year.

But for Russell and Antonelli, who are known to share a strong relationship, there is little to separate the duo at this stage.

When asked how long Russell and Antonelli can remain friends, Coulthard told the Up to Speed podcast: “It’s done. It’s done now.

“George knows he has a real threat for this championship. This might be, as we've seen with Lando and Oscar last year, McLaren reached a point where they delivered them a car and they fought for the world championship.

“Amazingly, they almost lost out to Max by a couple of points. But this could be the only time in this new era of F1 that Mercedes give them the advantage they've got.”

Coulthard added that both drivers' camps should be placing primary focus on ensuring they walk away from the upcoming Japanese Grand Prix on top.

“So make no bones about it - George, behind that facade of ‘well done, Kimi’, is trying to get every advantage he can over him for Suzuka and the next grands prix,” he said.

“Kimi’s team should be doing the same. The name team-mates is a misnomer. He's not your mate.

“If you get along with him away from the track, that's great - but his success is your failure, and vice versa.”