Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, leaders of the Formula One world championship in a dominant Mercedes car, are “absolutely off the leash” to race one another, their team principal, Toto Wolff, has said. Antonelli won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, the 19-year-old’s second victory on the trot and with Russell managing only fourth, the Italian leads his teammate by nine points.
Wolff insisted there was no plan to use team orders between them unless it becomes necessary later on. “We’re three races in, the car is good so we need to continue to do our job and give them a tool that they can continue to win or fight for the positions,” he said.
“Towards the end of the season we’re going to see how the points fall and whether anything needs to be done. “Absolutely off the leash both of them, as long as there’s this kind of margin between the cars we are fine.”
Mercedes have won all three races this seasonand the sport enters an unexpected break after the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix with the next meeting in Miami in five weeks. Russell won the opening round in Australia, but Antonelli, in his second season in F1, has since emerged on top. His victory at Suzuka made him the first Italian to take consecutive F1 wins since Alberto Ascari in 1953 and he is the youngest leader of the world championship.
Russell has not endured the best fortune. He had a mechanical problem in qualifying in China and the team made setup changes in Japan before qualifying that made his car harder to handle. In the race he was unlucky at the timing of a safety car just after he had taken his pit stop.
However, the 28-year-old was unfazed by the difficulties and expectant he would come back stronger in Miami. “At the moment, it is just one thing after the other,” he said. “Racing can go for you, but it can also go against you too and every issue we are having is on my side of the garage and I am the one going through that pain.
“Sometimes people have problems in practice. We have not had a single issue in practice, but I have had problems in qualifying instead. It is the luck of the draw with these new cars. But it is race three of 22 and I am not concerned at all. It is a long year and I know I have got what it takes to bounce back. I won’t dwell on it.”
