F1 2026: George Russell facing brand new Lewis Hamilton threat at Mercedes

Kimi Antonelli, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton looking serious at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix — Photo: © IMAGO

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George Russell facing brand new Lewis Hamilton threat at Mercedes

Just when Russell thought he'd gotten rid of Hamilton

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Tuesday 7 April 2026 21:56

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A new threat has presented itself to George Russell's F1 2026 title chances just as the Brit was hoping to take his place as the No.1 driver at Mercedes.

In the run up to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix last month, Russell could barely hide his excitement over the fact that Mercedes appeared to have finally built him a championship-contending car.

The W17 allowed the 28-year-old to lead the drivers' standings after the first race of the year in Melbourne, with the Silver Arrows going on to demonstrate dominance by taking both the sprint and the main grand prix win at the second round in China as well.

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Whilst Russell stood on the top step of the podium after the Shanghai sprint, it was his 19-year-old team-mate Kimi Antonelli who shone that weekend, making history as the youngest grand prix polesitter before taking his maiden victory in the full-length event.

Clearly on a high after his first F1 grand prix win, Antonelli then secured a follow-up victory by winning the Japanese GP, where the cracks truly began to show in Russell's cool facade.

To be fair to the Brit, he did suffer a technical issue in qualifying at Suzuka, and a setup mistake from Mercedes set him back, but his emotional response to seeing Antonelli leading the pack over the line showed that he isn't blind to the fact that the teenager could stand in the way of his maiden title hopes.

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Brundle: Russell 'lost his head' in Japan

Antonelli is still far from perfect and given he is only in his sophomore year in the pinnacle of motorsport, has plenty to learn.

But he has the upperhand going into the five-week long enforced break, becoming the youngest driver in history to lead the F1 championship.

In the latest episode of the F1 Show following the Japanese GP, Natalie Pinkham, David Croft and Martin Brundle assessed how much of a threat Antonelli is to Russell’s 2026 campaign.

Antonelli has won more grands prix than Russell in the opening rounds of the 2026 campaign, with Brundle pointing out how unlucky the timing is for the Brit who only just managed to get rid of a seven-time champion as his team-mate.

"If I was George, I'd be more concerned after three races than I was at the beginning of the season," said Brundle.

"George did all those hard yards at Williams and spent an extra year or two there. Goes to Mercedes just as they stopped dominating and has to tolerate all that. Now, they look like they've got a championship car and you'd say George has got the upper hand and all of a sudden he's got to be looking across the garage and thinking, 'hang on a minute, this is nowhere near certain. I've got to beat this teenager yet.'"

Returning to the threat of Antonelli and how Russell needs to attack the challenge of beating his team-mate over the rest of the season, Brundle later added: "I think George was frustrated, lost his head a little bit. He had that race [Japanese GP] under control I think in terms of, he probably would have got past Piastri later on.

"So all in all, yeah he needs a reset on that. He goes to Miami nine points behind his team-mate.

"It’s difficult times for George and he's got to treat Kimi Antonelli just as if he's Lewis Hamilton in his peak and a threat for the championship."