Nigel Mansell claims ‘everyone’ wants Kimi Antonelli to win the F1 title race against George Russell

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Nigel Mansell believes that all eyes are now on Andrea Kimi Antonelli to hold off George Russell after the 19-year-old took over at the top of the 2026 F1 drivers’ standings.

Antonelli, who made his debut in 2025, holds a nine-point lead heading into April after back-to-back wins in China and Japan. Russell had started stronger, but it’s been the younger driver who’s seized momentum with two early victories.

Now in just his second season, Antonelli has quickly closed the experience gap between them. Mercedes are giving both drivers an equal shot at this year’s title, while continuing to speak highly of their Briton.

Heading into 2026, most fans saw Russell as the favourite for the championship. His experience gave him an edge over Antonelli, who was still finding his footing at that point. Mercedes were also backed by many as favourites for success, especially with belief growing around their engine development for the new regulations.

Russell urged to make his mark over Antonelli in Mercedes F1

Mansell has been seriously impressed by Antonelli’s fast start to 2026. The Italian rookie turned his first pole position into a win in China, then followed up with another pole and victory in Japan. Those performances have quickly made him a fan favourite, with many now hoping he can carry that momentum through the rest of the season.

Mansell believes Russell needs to establish control at Mercedes, similar to how he managed Patrese at Williams during his own title campaign. In 1992, Mansell opened the year with five straight wins from pole and eventually took the championship by a 52-point margin.

Mansell said: “George is a great driver, and it’s sometimes how the chips fall. Sometimes you have a bit of luck, and sometimes you don’t. It’s a long season, but you’ve got to lead by incredible focus. I’ll never forget with Riccardo Patrese in ’92 that he thought I had a special car.

“It’s a long season, even back then, and so we swapped qualifying cars at Sao Paulo early in, and I got Sir Frank [Williams] and Patrick [Head] to agree with that because I was two seconds a lap quicker than him. And his car, there was nothing wrong with it.

“And long story short, the first lap I went out in his car, I was a second and a half quicker – straight away quicker than him in his car – and sorted that out. And you stamp your authority. The point I want to say is [that] you stamp your authority.”

He continued: “And getting back to the Mercedes team, you have to stamp your authority, and obviously Kimi has done a great job. He’s young. Everyone’s pulling for him.”

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