Three races into the season, Kimi Antonelli is leading the championship from George Russell, winning the last couple of races. F1 Veteran Martin Brundle recently came out and warned Russell of Antonelli’s threat, asking the Briton to treat the Italian like Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes went into the 2026 season as the favorite with George Russell in the prime seat to win the championship. With just one season under his belt, Kimi Antonelli wasn’t expected to pose a threat to the Briton for the championship.

However, just three races into the season, going into the months-long break following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GP, Antonelli leads the F1 driver’s championship after winning the races at the Chinese GP and the Japanese GP.

Martin Brundle came out on the recent episode of the F1 show podcast and issued a Kimi Antonelli warning to George Russell as he said,

“If I was George, I’d be more concerned after three races than I was at the beginning of the season. 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’. And I think he really has,” added Brundle.

Asking George Russell to treat Kimi Antonelli like prime Lewis Hamilton, the F1 veteran added,

“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.”

Lewis Hamilton was Russell’s teammate at Mercedes from 2022 to 2024 before the seven-time F1 champion decided to make a move to Ferrari.

Former Red Bull driver asked George Russell to “start eroding” Kimi Antonelli’s confidence

Although Kimi Antonelli has beaten George Russell in the last couple of races, it was due to unfavorable conditions for the Briton, including the anti-stall in Q3 at the Chinese GP and the safety car timing at the Japanese GP. Former Red Bull driver David Coulthard came out on the Up to Speed podcast, as he said,

“You don’t want a really confident team-mate. You want a team-mate that’s slightly thinking, ‘Oh, I’m not sure I can beat him in qualifying.’”

“George has to now start eroding that confidence within Kimi. And he’s having to do that whilst of course, [keeping] the facade of the team. Mercedes, you know, we love each other, everyone’s fine, but it will come to a head,” added Coulthard.

After the Japanese GP, where Russell finished P4, Kimi Antonelli leads the championship by a nine-point margin.