Andrea Kimi Antonelli may have to get his elbows out against Mercedes team-mate George Russell if the 2026 Formula 1 title battle intensifies.
Antonelli has enjoyed a meteoric start to F1’s latest era, leading his more experienced team-mate in the drivers’ standings.
The German marque have been the runaway leaders so far, in 2026, winning all the four rounds run so far.
The 19-year-old has taken three of those victories to Russell’s one – sending him to the very top of the championship with a steady 20-point lead.
That said, former F1 driver and analyst Jolyon Palmer believes the gloves aren’t off yet within the Brackley-based team.
“He [Antonelli] is young. He’s out of contract at the end of the year currently, which seems amazing right now,” he said on the F1 Nation podcast.
“I don’t think he’s going to nuke the team by going all acrimonious on George for the gain of seven points or 10 points, or whatever the swing might be, at least at this stage.”
But if Mercedes are able to retain its advantage over its rivals through the season, the title battle might go down to the wire between the duo, at which point Palmer expects the “real Kimi” to be on offer for all to see.
“Maybe, if they’re close in September, October, we’ll start to see what the real Kimi is like at that point,” the former Renault driver explained.
Toto Wolff tipped to tame budding George Russell-Kimi Antonelli F1 rivalry
A bitter battle to the end would not be a complete surprise for Mercedes and Wolff.
The Austrian evidently still has the battle scars from the Nico Rosberg-Lewis Hamilton era.
And wiser from that particular fallout, Palmer expects Wolff to maintain parity amongst his drivers if push ever came to shove.
“The other thing is, I don’t see Toto favouring Kimi in the same way that Helmut Marko was absolutely in Sebastian Vettel’s camp at Red Bull,” Palmer added.
“Toto will be completely fair, because he’s had this experience as well with Rosberg and Hamilton. He’ll have a better idea in his head how he’s going to manage it.”
“And right now, having a 19 year old as a championship leader, at least in that sense, will make it so much easier than the last time he did it.”
Up next for the Mercedes duo is the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – a track where both of them have tasted success with Russell winning last time out and Antonelli bagging his maiden F1 podium.
READ MORE – Mercedes admit being ‘scared’ of Kimi Antonelli’s stellar F1 season run