'Very aggressive' Kimi Antonelli backed to become like George Russell

Former Formula 1 driver Thierry Boutsen believes Kimi Antonelli will drive in a similar way to George Russell in a few years, no longer being as "very aggressive" as he currently is.

Antonelli has been mesmeric across the opening half of the 2026 F1 season, winning six of the 11 races and building a 50-point lead over Lewis Hamilton.

Russell finds himself a further nine points adrift and has faced several setbacks this campaign, both with his own pace and Mercedes' reliability.

It is the championship leader who has largely had the edge across the entire year so far, often demonstrating aggressive displays when needed.

Russell's approach has been calmer than aggressive, although Boutsen believes that the way Antonelli currently drives is no different from how the Briton drove at the start of his career.

"I think if you take George from his first F1 season, he would have been as aggressive as Kimi," Boutsen told F1's official website. 

"But he’s learned a lot, he’s calmed down also, he’s got more maturity. He races a totally different way. I believe that Kimi will be the same in three, four years. He will drive very differently to today.

"Today, he’s very aggressive and takes every single opportunity, although sometimes it is like Canada, where he went off a few times. Track limits as well. 

"It’s very different moments in their careers that would explain the difference. For the long run, I don’t know who’s going to win. It’s very difficult to say. They’re both very, very good drivers."