Antonelli concedes Russell 'has the momentum' as title duel heads to Bahrain GP

Kimi Antonelli has conceded that Mercedes team-mate George Russell “has got the momentum” after the Briton's victory in Azerbaijan, with the championship leader expecting a “tough challenge” as Formula 1 heads to the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend at Sepang in Malaysia.

Despite still holding a commanding 66-point lead in the drivers' standings, the 20-year-old Italian is acutely aware that Russell closed the gap with his first win since the Austrian Grand Prix in June. The Baku weekend delivered mixed fortunes for the Silver Arrows: Antonelli crashed in the opening segment of Qualifying and started from P16, while Russell surged to pole and held off a chasing Max Verstappen to take the chequered flag.

While Antonelli made progress on Sunday, climbing to fifth place, Russell's triumph cut his team-mate's lead at the top of the standings to 66 points. Reflecting on the weekend in Baku during media day in Malaysia, Antonelli acknowledged that it had been his most difficult outing of the season but insisted there were lessons to take from it.

'I need to always be 100 per cent'

“Last weekend was probably the worst weekend from me, from my side of the season,” he explained. “But still, very good learning from the weekend, and it was also a very strange race for me in Baku because it was one of those races where I consciously tried not to take any risk and just drive under the limit, which was very weird but good.

“It was what I needed on Sunday – I needed a clean result after a very disrupted weekend. After the race, I wasn't happy with the result and everything, but I learn many things.

“The most important is that I need to always be 100 per cent and I need to really do my best to achieve the best result, because if I don't do everything right, or I don't try to do everything right in my power, then nothing is going to come my way.”

Pressed on whether he now expects a more intense battle with Russell – and whether he feels ready for it – Antonelli answered without hesitation: “For sure. He did an incredible weekend in Baku and he's got the momentum, but on my side, it was definitely the worst weekend of the season for me.

“But obviously I learned a lot from it and I'm really excited and looking forward to this weekend because I think it's going to be a big opportunity to score big points. Of course the mindset is always the same to go out there and win, but for sure George has been doing great, especially last weekend, and it's going to be a tough challenge but I'm looking forward to it.”

Upgrades and a special livery for Sepang

Mercedes will run an upgrade package on the W17 at Sepang – alongside a special livery for the occasion – and Antonelli admitted he is excited to experience the Malaysian circuit.

“I'm very much looking forward [to it],” the 20-year-old said. “I've just done the track walk and the track looks amazing. The tarmac is very open, very abrasive, so it's going to be very hard on tyres but, other than that, I'm looking forward to it.

“We have upgrades this weekend. It's always nice the more experience you make, you also appreciate more whenever you bring upgrades because you notice straight away the difference and the details. It looks pretty cool, the car with the upgrades. I'm really looking forward to it, and hopefully it's going to make us even faster.”

Asked about his expectations for the updates, and which areas he would like to improve on as a driver, Antonelli added: “The upgrades should bring more grip, more downforce in the car, so on that side hopefully we will have more grip. Let's see how the balance is going to change of the car with the new upgrade. Areas we need to improve… a bit overall, to be fair. I think there's many areas where I can improve on driving.

“I think this track is going to be a really good test for me, because it's very long corners where it's really important not to over-slow the car too much. It's probably an area where I need to work on quite a bit, but I'm looking forward to it. I did some laps on the sim and it felt good, but of course we'll see on the real track.”

With the abrasive Sepang surface set to punish tyres and the upgraded W17 arriving with a fresh livery, the Bahrain Grand Prix promises a stern test of Mercedes' form – and of Antonelli's title resolve.