Antonelli 'won't be bullied' by Russell in Mercedes title fight, says Schiff

Kimi Antonelli has emphatically rejected any supporting role at Mercedes in 2026, winning four of the team’s opening five grands prix and becoming the youngest driver to lead the Formula 1 championship — a run that analyst Naomi Schiff says proves the 19-year-old Italian “won’t be bullied” by team-mate George Russell.

Mercedes have won every race so far this season, with Antonelli taking back-to-back victories in China and Japan before adding further wins in Miami and Canada. That sequence made him the first driver in F1 history to win each of his first four consecutive races.

The Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal had been widely framed as a pivotal moment for Russell. A previous winner at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the Briton qualified on pole, won the sprint race, and engaged Antonelli in a fierce on-track duel before a battery failure ended his challenge.

Schiff, speaking on the Up To Speed podcast, said that confrontation changed the dynamic between the two drivers. “Honestly, that moment I think was really where the gloves came off,” she said. “And I’m almost happy that it happened because on one hand, Kimi is really showing that he’s not just going to be bullied or made to feel like the little brother. He was like, ‘I’m here. I’m going to race you, and I’m going to race you hard.’”

Schiff was also quick to credit Russell’s racecraft, noting that his defensive driving rarely costs him time. “He is incredible in his defensive driving in the sense that he never loses time while doing it,” she said. “It doesn’t compromise him too much, but I think it’s going to be such an exciting season ahead watching these two go head-to-head.”

With Mercedes dominant as a constructor and their two drivers separated only by misfortune rather than pace, the intra-team rivalry looks set to define the 2026 championship narrative.