Mercedes F1 star George Russell out of excuses after Miami GP battering: 'Just laid down and taken it'

Russell screwing up his face on the F1 grid at Miami in bright purple race suit — Photo: © IMAGO

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George Russell out of excuses after Miami GP battering: 'Just laid down and taken it'

George Russell has continued to lose ground to his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Wednesday 6 May 2026 14:27

Mercedes F1 star George Russell has been berated after the British driver spent the Miami Grand Prix weekend rattling off excuses as to why he was being beaten by teenage team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

When Antonelli was brought into the fold at Mercedes, many questioned whether Toto Wolff's admiration for his protege blinded him from the fact that the Italian sensation was too young for F1.

But four rounds into his sophomore campaign with the Silver Arrows, the 19-year-old has extended his lead at the top of the drivers' standings, now boasting a 20-point advantage over Russell.

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The 28-year-old may have double the amount of grand prix victories as Antonelli, but if the youngster continues with the form he has shown off so far in the new regulations era, he could quickly catch up.

And one F1 expert has insisted it is time for Russell to stop with the excuses and start leaning from Antonelli.

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Windsor: Russell could learn from Antonelli

The Miami GP weekend saw Antonelli make history once again as the first driver to convert his first three career poles into wins, leaving former F1 manager Peter Windsor 'astonished' by the changing of the guard at Mercedes.

Windsor took to his YouTube channel to air his thoughts on Russell's 'excuses', saying during his race weekend analysis video: "Kimi Antonelli has won his third successive grand prix, three polls in a row as well. Almost speechless, just wonderful.

"And I don't know what's more dramatic, the way he's been winning and the confidence level that he's attained and how that's transformed his driving to medium speed and fast corners now, or whether it's the way he's been showing the way to George Russell, to put it bluntly.

"I mean, for George to be beaten in the same car like this by Kimi Antonelli is absolutely astonishing. I'm completely amazed at how George has laid down and taken this and his excuses in Miami about it being a low grip circuit and the tyres overheating and not his sort of place, well, I mean, it is the same for everybody. That is the racetrack. You've got to drive it."

Windsor then suggested that Russell's excuse that Miami is simply one of his 'bogey tracks' on the calendar were nonsensical, adding: "If Kimi is doing a better job with his changes of direction, with the way he's loading up the steering, with all the things that he's been doing really well on slow corners, then why hasn't George been learning from that?

"Just because he's George Russell and he's won these grand prix, doesn't mean to say he can't learn from a guy like Kimi. Because Kimi from the start has always been better on slow corners than George. And I've been saying that and I think several others have been too.

"And now because of his success, because of his confidence, Kimi is now mega good on on medium and high speed corners. And for George now to turn around and blow Kimi away is not going to be easy. Of course, it's doable. He has the talent to do it, but he's not going to do it by saying, 'oh, well, I'm not very good on low grip circuits,' because what does that mean? It just means that when the car is sliding, he's putting too much energy into the tyres and he's got to do what Kimi does and put less energy in. And that was really visible in the closing phase of the Miami Grand Prix when he was racing Lando Norris.”

F1 Mercedes George Russell Kimi Antonelli Peter Windsor