Antonelli vows Mercedes team battle with Russell will not mirror Hamilton-Rosberg feud

Andrea Kimi Antonelli has pledged that his on-track battle with Mercedes team-mate George Russell will not descend into the kind of destructive rivalry that scarred the team during the Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg years. The 19-year-old Italian made the comments at a media conference in Brisighella, where he collected the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy — an award established in 1992 to honour commendable performances in motorsport.

Antonelli confirmed that Mercedes management has given both drivers licence to race without strict team orders, while making clear the arrangement comes with an expectation of mutual respect. “The team wants us to race freely, because they know very well, especially in the position that we are now, you cannot put the leash on us,” he said. “But they also want to make sure that there’s not an unpleasant situation. If they feel like it, in the next few races, they will tell us to race a bit easier.”

On the prospect of repeating the fractious Hamilton-Rosberg dynamic that played out across multiple championship seasons, Antonelli was direct. “We don’t want to recreate a scenery like Lewis and Rosberg, where internally in the team was not the best. Of course, we’re going to race each other hard, but we’ll try to be as fair as possible, avoiding any crashes or contacts because we want the best as well for the team. We want Mercedes to win.”

The remarks follow a tense Canadian Grand Prix weekend in which the rivalry between the two drivers sharpened considerably. During the sprint race, Antonelli publicly accused Russell of pushing him off the circuit. After discussions within the team, the pair produced close racing in the main grand prix before Russell was forced to retire with battery issues.

Reflecting on his own conduct in Montreal, Antonelli acknowledged he may have overstepped. “In Canada I was aggressive, maybe a little too much. If a similar situation happens again, we’ll have to be more clear-headed,” he said. He nonetheless defended the competitive instinct that drove it: “It’s like being in a shark tank. You either eat or you’re eaten. I’m racing to win, I’m playing for victories. It’s still early to talk about the championship, but I’m right up there in the standings. It’s one of those opportunities that doesn’t come along every day, so you want to make the most of it.”

The Lorenzo Bandini Trophy, named in honour of the Ferrari driver who died following a crash at the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix, adds a layer of symbolic weight to Antonelli’s emergence as one of the sport’s most closely watched young talents.