Kimi Antonelli delivers response to fears of George Russell Mercedes war

Kimi Antonelli insists that he is "not worrying about" the potential of fighting Mercedes team-mate George Russell for the F1 world championship. 

Antonelli enjoys a nine-point lead over Russell as F1's April break continues following victory in the Japanese GP, which was coupled with a fourth-place at Suzuka for Russell.

This result was enough to propel Antonelli into the lead of the drivers' championship - the youngest-ever driver to do so, eclipsing Lewis Hamilton's record from 2007 by nearly three years.

With the Mercedes W17 thus far being the dominant package in F1 2026, it is almost certain that Mercedes will have both of its drivers involved in a title fight for the first time since the Hamilton-Nico Rosberg rivalry between 2014 and 2016.

But Antonelli is firm that, at this stage, he is not thinking about Russell and the championship implications of fighting his team-mate.

"No, I’m not worrying about that, to be fair. I’m just going to focus on myself, on what I need to do, trying to get everything right in terms of procedure, starts, and driving," Antonelli told media, including RacingNews365, when asked if he was worried tensions with Russell could spill over at some point. 

"I know how strong George is, and for sure it’s going to be very hard. Plus, I think Ferrari and McLaren will get closer, so it’s going to be important to stay on top of the game, as I said before, keep raising the bar.

"But I’m not focusing on or worrying about this at the moment. I'm just going to try to make the best out of the break and try to see how I can improve those areas in order to be back stronger.

"I've made a big step, obviously, last year I went through a lot, and it taught me massively more than what I anticipated, and for sure it’s helping so far this year. 

"Of course, there’s still a lot of work to do, but I definitely feel much more in control of the situation. The car helps, and I’m going to try to be ready and everything because it’s one of those opportunities that don’t happen every day. 

"So obviously, yeah, really, really grateful with the car that the team has provided us so far, and yeah, I just need to keep my head down."