Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli is still leading the championship race, but things have gotten tight after two straight races with car troubles and the surge of George Russell.
George Russell has capitalized by cutting down his deficit, gaining a total of 41 points over the last two races.
He is now within 25 points of Antonelli, who will certainly have pressure to deliver a clean weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Reliability and car issues have become a big talking point about the Mercedes engine, given Antonelli’s two pointless races, though Russell has also grown in confidence with the car.
F1 experts Jolyon Palmer and James Hinchcliffe debated if it is the car underneath Antonelli or Russell that is the bigger threat to the Italian’s title contention.
“I’m not sure if George lost his footing or if Kimi just really solidly found his. You watch on track, you see the attitude of the car, you see his aggression in wheel to wheel racing. It’s hard to bet against him at this point,” Hinchcliffe said.
“Right now it seems like reliability is his biggest threat because without a big turnaround from George, I don’t see it being from the other side of the garage. Last year we were saying that George was probably the second most complete driver on the grid. He had such a stellar year and a slightly underperforming car.
“We’re a third of the way through the year now, and I think we can realistically point to two weekends, maybe three, where George outperformed Kimi from start to finish. Even when George has a good Friday and Saturday, by Sunday afternoon, Kimi just seems to have a little bit more, and it’s a numbers game.”
Who else can challenge Antonelli?
At this point, Russell and his own car are the biggest obstacles in Antonelli’s way. Lewis Hamilt sits in third, 32 points down, but with a car that may not be a match for Mercedes.
Charles Leclerc is in fourth, 71 points down in total. He could become a contender if he puts together a run of consecutive results and if Antonelli suffers more reliability problems, but Russel also holds nearly a 40-point lead over him.
Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and Oscar Piastri likely don’t have the machinery this year for a push.
