Championship chief Antonelli has a 40-point benefit over Mercedes teammate Russell.
| Photograph Credit score: REUTERS
Former Method One World champion Damon Hill praised Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli as a particular expertise and backed him for the F1 drivers’ title this yr.
“I feel the favorite is Kimi as a result of I feel that he’s obtained the gear. Mercedes has been probably the most constant, and he’s obtained a bonus (40 factors), and I feel that he’s nonetheless on a studying curve. So George (Russell) has obtained a mountain to climb, I feel, to rein him in. I’m not saying he can’t do it, however I feel from what I’ve seen this man is one thing else. So we’ll see,” stated Hill forward of this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
Antonelli’s teammate Russell heads into his residence race after successful the earlier spherical in Austria final weekend, solely his second of the yr. Hill felt it ought to give the native hero a much-needed increase at a time when the gang would have heightened expectations.
“George having obtained a win and closed the hole to Kimi, that’s going to be a optimistic for him and an enormous reduction as a result of it was, as he stated at one level, he didn’t know what to say. He was confused given the quantity of unhealthy luck he had, however he lastly obtained a superb victory; a real win, he obtained pole place and so forth. I feel that’s going to revive a few of his confidence,” the 1996 F1 champion added.
When requested if Russell was a bit unsettled by Antonelli hogging all the eye when he received 5 races on the bounce, Hill remarked that it was one thing a driver has to take care of, even when he had been at a spot for longer.
“When a driver is in a crew, they will’t contemplate that they’re the first concern of that crew. The issue with being a racing driver in our sport is that you simply’re not likely a part of the crew. For the time you’re there, you’re a part of the crew, however you continue to need to show your self in opposition to the opposite man. So that you’re in a relentless battle to determine your place,” remarked Hill.
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Revealed – July 03, 2026 08:38 pm IST
