– When will Mercedes decide to fully back Kimi Antonelli in the Formula 1 World Championship battle and finally assign teammate George Russell the role of supporter? Former Formula 1 team boss Günther Steiner is convinced: This step has already been taken internally.
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“I wouldn’t say they told him: ‘You are the number two driver.’ They told him: ‘You are here now to support Kimi,'” the South Tyrolean suspects in the podcast The Red Flags Podcast. Steiner assumes that there were corresponding talks during the summer break.
“I wouldn’t call him the number two driver, but: ‘If necessary, you have to support Kimi in winning the World Championship. That is your task for this season.’ No, I think that has happened,” the 61-year-old is convinced.
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At the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Russell actually had to let his teammate Antonelli pass. However, this was primarily because the Italian was on fresher tires at that time and would have passed Russell anyway.
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“If you want to win, you have to do it”
Mercedes confirmed that in case of emergency, they would have “done exactly the same in reverse” and let Russell pass Antonelli. For former team boss Steiner, it is still clear that the Silver Arrows are now fully backing the Italian – after all, Antonelli has already collected 59 points more than Russell in the driver World Championship.
“If you want to win, you have to do it,” says the South Tyrolean. “Otherwise, you take the risk that McLaren took last year – and in the end, you lose the World Championship in the last race; you don’t win it, you lose it.”
The closest pursuer of the two Mercedes drivers is currently record world champion Lewis Hamilton. The Ferrari driver is in third place but is tied on points with Russell, who has more wins. He is already 59 points behind leader Antonelli.
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