Mercedes 'nuke' prediction made in George Russell-Kimi Antonelli title fight

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer does not expect Kimi Antonelli to deploy a “nuke” in his title battle with George Russell anytime soon.

Mercedes has enjoyed a strong start to the F1 campaign, winning all four grands prix so far.

Three of those victories have gone to Antonelli, who currently leads the drivers’ championship by 20 points over Russell.

The relationship between the pair has remained harmonious as they contend for their first titles, and it is a situation Palmer does not expect to change in the near future.

“He [Antonelli] is young. He's out of contract at the end of the year currently, which seems amazing right now,” Palmer told the F1 Nation podcast.

“I don't think he's going to nuke the team by going all acrimonious on  George for the gain of seven points or 10 points, or whatever the swing might be, at least at this stage. 

“Maybe, if they're close in September, October, we'll start to see what the real Kimi is like at that point.”

Mercedes is no stranger to intra-team title battles, having managed a tense three-year fight between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in the first years of the turbo-hybrid era.

With another scrap seemingly on its hands, Palmer has backed Wolff to successfully navigate any potential hostility.

“The other thing is, I don't see Toto favouring Kimi in the same way that Helmut Marko was absolutely in Sebastian Vettel's camp at Red Bull,” he said.

“Toto will be completely fair, because he's had this experience as well with Rosberg and Hamilton. 

“He'll have a better idea in his head how he's going to manage it. 

“And right now, having a 19 year old as a championship leader, at least in that sense, will make it so much easier than the last time he did it.”