Kimi Antonelli criticised for leaving Mercedes with no other driver options

A former F1 world champion has suggested Mercedes star Kimi Antonelli left the team with no options regarding his or George Russell's contract.

Both Russell and Antonelli were handed new contracts last week which confirmed them as Mercedes' two drivers for the 2026 season.

They've formed a solid partnership, with Russell winning two races in 2025 and sitting up in fourth in the drivers' championship, and Antonelli has regularly chipped in with points to help the team to second in the constructors' standings.

However, the potential availability of four-time world champion Max Verstappen led to some delay over both of their new deals, with even Russell sweating over his future at certain parts of the 2025 season.

Now, 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has suggested that Antonelli's poor form over the summer period left Mercedes with no room to manoeuvre, with it becoming clear they needed Russell to lead the team.

"If Mercedes hadn’t re-signed George, who would they have gone for? There is no-one out there at his level," Villeneuve told Vision4Sport.

"His team-mate is not ready to lead the team. He still finishes the races and qualifies as far as he did at the beginning of the season. That's what you have to look at, not just the position, but the comparison with his team-mate in distance, in time, over a whole race and over a whole weekend. George was finishing fifth and Antonelli eighth, Now he’s finished fourth, amazing? Well, no, George won!

"So that fourth is not better than the previous eighth. You can spin it any way you want. Basically, you can say, well, it's great, what a big improvement. No, the team just won.

"It just depends on what you look at and how you look at it. He hasn't gotten worse, but he hasn't gotten better. In the last two races he seemed to be a little bit more confident. I think that’s because they've changed the people around him at the racetrack.

"Now that has to continue, because we've seen other rookies making steps. Antonelli has to make steps."

Can Mercedes become world champions in 2026?

There was no official length of contract put on the public announcement for either Mercedes star, with only 2026 mentioned.

With new regulations sweeping into the sport next year, Mercedes are understood to be in a good place to try and master those regulations, and Russell suggested at the US Grand Prix last time out that Mercedes are his best bet if he wants to win a championship next year.

The Silver Arrows have the driver in Russell, they have the title-winning experience having won eight consecutive constructors' titles between 2014 and 2021, and if they can master the regulations, you would back the Brackley outfit to be in the fight next year.

And that may then lead to another pursuit of Verstappen's services for the 2027 season, with the Dutchman not likely to stick around at Red Bull if they can't give him a championship-challenging car in 2026.

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