The Miami Grand Prix weekend has taken an unexpected turn for Mercedes, with rookie sensation Kimi Antonelli consistently outpacing his more experienced teammate George Russell. And according to the British driver, the reason comes down to grip—or rather, the lack of it.
Antonelli, just 19 years old, stormed to his third consecutive pole position on Saturday, finishing a commanding four-tenths of a second ahead of Russell, who could only manage fifth on the grid. The writing was on the wall early: Antonelli took second in sprint qualifying while Russell settled for sixth, and the Italian crossed the line fourth in the sprint race, one spot ahead of his teammate. Though a post-race track limits penalty dropped Antonelli to sixth, the championship leader has clearly had the edge all weekend.
"I just made a mistake on my last corner, last lap—I was about three tenths up," Russell admitted. "A little bit annoyed, but this is a track I've always struggled with. Kimi was sprint pole last year, I was P5; today he's pole and I'm P5. It's just very low grip here—you're sliding around a lot, the tarmac's hot."
Russell elaborated on the contrast between their driving styles, noting that the slick, low-grip Miami surface doesn't suit his smooth, precise approach. "Similar to Brazil, Kimi was more competitive than me there. Whereas I much prefer the high-grip conditions, where the tyre and the car is more connected with the ground. So yeah, I just want to get through this weekend, really."
The numbers tell the story: Russell heads into Sunday's grand prix seven points behind Antonelli in the standings, with the young Italian chasing his third consecutive Sunday victory. But this weekend marks the first time Antonelli has truly had the upper hand over Russell in 2026, as bad luck had cost the Briton in previous rounds after his season-opening win in Melbourne.
"I'm quite a smooth, precise driver, and that's always been my style," Russell explained to Sky Sports. "On these tracks you've just got to be happy with the car sliding. I like the car on the edge, but this is like you've got a set of 200-lap-old tyres on your car—it's just sliding, understeer and oversteer. That's the same for everybody, for what it's worth."