James Hinchcliffe says George Russell can’t afford to be passive with Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes

James Hinchcliffe thinks George Russell has the edge over Kimi Antonelli, but says he can’t afford to keep looking out for his young teammate.

After Antonelli won the Japanese Grand Prix, he moved past Russell to become the youngest championship leader in Formula One history.

With both drivers now in the thick of the title race, Mercedes will be keen to avoid a repeat of the tensions that surfaced during the Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg era.

During Suzuka, Russell’s radio message about Antonelli hinted at some nerves about being shown up by his highly-rated teammate.

Kimi Antonelli may be leading the standings now, but both Jolyon Palmer and James Hinchcliffe are still backing George Russell—though they think he needs to show a bit more aggression.

James Hinchcliffe feels George Russell can’t afford to overlook Kimi Antonelli

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, James Hinchcliffe shared his thoughts on the growing title battle between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.

Although Hinchcliffe still backs Russell, he pointed out that there are factors beyond his control that could work against him. He suggested that Russell needs to be willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means putting his teammate at a disadvantage.

“If George, for whatever reason, has a few races midseason where things don’t go well and he hits a bit of a slump, that could bring things back…

“If we all think George is the guy, racing still has variables that you can’t control, and you could still have two-three bad weekends in a row, maybe nothing to do with yourself.”

“If you have allowed your teammate to be too close to you at that stage, all of a sudden, that power dynamic can shift in their favour. I think right from the drop now, George has to be a little bit more cut-throat.”

Jolyon Palmer thinks George Russell will see off Kimi Antonelli’s title challenge

Hinchcliffe’s comments were in response to Jolyon Palmer, who said he still sees George Russell as the favourite for the championship, even with Antonelli’s recent surge.

“If you asked anyone after Melbourne, I think they would have said this is George Russell’s title. I still believe he’s the favourite. I still think he’s got the best chance.

“I think over the course of the season, his consistency will be better. He’s shown over a number of years the highest level which could win championships, and I just haven’t seen that from Kimi. Obviously, the sample size is small…

“My belief right now is that George will be more consistent over the year… There is an element of like, ’Well, hang on, Kimi is stepping up, and you never know how these things go.’”

The way Antonelli has started this season has many believing Russell needs to stop treating him as just a young teammate with potential and start seeing him as a genuine rival.

Mercedes may want to avoid internal conflict between their drivers but won’t be able to hold back what looks set to be an intense head-to-head battle for the championship between their two drivers.