LONDON : George Russell has the maturity and mental strength to gain the upper hand over teenage Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli in Formula One’s title battle, according to the Briton’s former team boss Claire Williams.
Russell, 28, heads into this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone second in the championship, 40 points behind 19-year-old Antonelli, who has enjoyed a remarkable start to his second Formula One season with five victories from the opening six races.
The Mercedes teammates will resume their title duel at Silverstone, where Russell will be racing in front of his home crowd.
“My experience of George … I think he is perfectly capable of winning that psychological battle when it comes to trying to win a world championship,” Williams, who oversaw Russell’s Formula One debut at Williams between 2019 and 2021, told reporters.
“He’s quite self-aware and he will be sitting there each and every day (thinking), ‘What do I need to do in order to surpass my team mate? How can I win that battle?'”
Williams, who stepped away from Formula One following the sale of her family team in 2020 but remains involved in the sport as a pundit and speaker, compared the current Mercedes rivalry to the title battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg a decade ago.
Rosberg beat Hamilton to the 2016 championship by five points after an intense intra-team contest.
“It is the psychological battle that wins the war at the end of the day,” Williams said.
“And I think George, because he has got a layer of maturity over Kimi at this stage, just by sheer numbers, that’s where he will win the fight.”
Russell has claimed two victories this season, including last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, and will be aiming to reduce Antonelli’s championship lead further at Silverstone.
The Briton began the campaign as bookmakers’ favourite for the title before Antonelli transformed the championship picture with a run of five consecutive victories.
Williams said Russell had displayed unusual maturity from the beginning of his career, recalling how he had earned the nickname “Grandpa” from fellow karters because of his composed personality.
“I believe he has got it. He has got the talent,” she said.
“It is just making sure that the Mercedes has the reliability he needs to get it over the line.”
