McLaren comparison identified that gives George Russell clear advantage

David Coulthard has questioned whether Kimi Antonelli's "emotional rollercoaster" will prove detrimental to a potential F1 title challenge in going up against Mercedes team-mate George Russell.

Coulthard can see similarities between Russell and Antonelli's partnership this year, compared to that of the McLaren duo, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

The 13-time grand prix winner feels Norris' additional layer of experience stood him in good stead, as last year was his seventh in F1, compared to Piastri's third.

Russell has embarked on his eighth F1 campaign this year, whilst 19-year-old Antonelli has just started his second. He also endured the high emotion of winning his first grand prix recently in China, leading to tears when he spoke to Coulthard in an immediate post-race interview.

For Coulthard, Russell has a clear edge over Antonelli, given his greater level of maturity and experience.

"What's going to be really interesting is how he [Antonelli] paces himself during the course of the year," said Coulthard, speaking on the Up To Speed podcast.

"That's where I think Lando had the advantage over Oscar last year, having more experience of life, having more experience of grand prix racing. He didn't have the drop-off in performance.

"And this is a long year, even if we are missing those two grands prix [in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia], and George's experience might be the thing that keeps him more level, if you like, for the entire year.

"If George wins another grand prix, he's going to be happy, but he's not going through this emotional roller coaster that we've just seen Kimi go through. That all takes time and energy.

"I love to be on the extremes of emotions, but it takes something out of you, so he now has to get back on track and go and build on that in Suzuka."

Coulthard also highlighted that, despite being only 19, Antonelli has experienced more grands prix in winning his first race at the 26th attempt, compared to the Scot, who was 24 when he took the chequered flag for the first time.

"I won on my 21st grand prix, because I only did eight races in '94, sharing the car with [Nigel] Mansell after Ayrton Senna was killed," said Coulthard. "And then in '95, there were 16 grands prix, so nowhere near as many races as we have today.

"So, actually, Kimi has done more races than I had done at that point. So, in terms of grand prix experience, he's actually a more experienced driver than I was when I got the first win."