Former F1 team boss details unusual Kimi Antonelli advantage over George Russell

Kimi Antonelli and George Russell appear to be the early favourites for the 2026 title – but does the lesser-experienced driver have the advantage?Russell Antonelli Q Presser

Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has suggested Kimi Antonelli currently holds an advantage over George Russell due to having no bad habits from the previous generation of car.

The technical regulations received a major overhaul this year as changes were introduced for both the aerodynamic and power unit elements.

Mercedes has enjoyed a highly successful start to the new year with three wins from three, two of which have gone the way of Antonelli.

The Italian currently leads the drivers’ championship by nine points over Russell, with Steiner suggesting the latter is struggling to rid himself of the techniques he picked up driving Mercedes previous cars.

“For me, going into the season, George was the absolute favourite even before testing because it was the moment of George Russell,” he told the Drive to Wynn podcast.

“But then what happened now with these cars, Kimi just has no old habits. But George has to get rid of some habits.

“He drove the old car for quite a long time. You’re not talking only about the PU with the EV power and all that stuff.

“It’s also the aerodynamics are completely different, you need to adapt.”

While Russell has several years of experience in F1 over second-year driver Antonelli, Steiner suggested that factor counts for less at the start of a new regulation cycle.

“Kimi, for him, it’s much easier,” he said. “He hasn’t got a lot to go back to. For him, everything is new, and he doesn’t have to get rid of anything.

“He doesn’t need to put effort in to lose some habits. He can just go and drive the car while the other ones have to just get away from the ground effect.

“The ground effect is not there anymore. As a race car driver, if you have driven the ground effect cars for five years, it is not that you can change from one day to the next and say, Oh, this is now different. I just adapted’.

“You always fall back to some habits.”