George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli are teammates at Mercedes for the 2025 season. The relationship between an F1 driver and their teammate is a special one. This is the only person within the sport who knows exactly what the car is like and how the team operates. It is also the only person you will be directly compared to on the track and in the championship.
This comparison is what has given the sport many of its iconic championship battles over the years. Think of Senna and Prost at McLaren and Rosberg and Hamilton at Mercedes. But we have also seen some amazing moments between teammates off track. Think of Verstappen and Ricciardo at Red Bull and Norris and Sainz at McLaren. These are all moments F1 fans will cherish forever. A moment Russell will do that with is his first meeting with a 12-year-old Antonelli, many years ago.
Just a face in the crowd or a future champion?
During an interview between teammates hosted by Mercedes, the question of George Russell’s and Kimi Antonelli’s first meeting came up. Russell wasn’t sure where he first met his now teammate; however, he does remember a very young kid with just about the same face:
“I remember meeting like a really young kid and I presume that was you. I was still in F2. You meet these young kids and at the time, it seemed like you were so young. Yeah. You was maybe, what, 12, 10 years old?”
Of course, at the time, Russell didn’t know that the pre-teen he met at Monza that day in 2018 would partner with him 7 years later at the mighty Mercedes. With the current season of Formula 1 on summer break, the pair have put Mercedes in P3 in the Constructors’ championship, and they are the only team other than McLaren to have scored a double podium at a Grand Prix.
The final half of 2025 crucial for the Mercedes pair
While the first half of the 2025 season had its ups and downs, the Mercedes drivers have gone into the summer break on a high. A double points finish for the team in Hungary, following another rollback on upgrades, meant that the team could get back into its old rhythm.
Although Kimi Antonelli only scored a single point during the most recent race, this was the first point he had scored in the entire European stint of the F1 season so far. A very happy Antonelli spoke to the media after the race, ecstatic about the result. After an extremely tough leg of the calendar with heavy struggles, seeing the Italian rookie slowly lose confidence, it seems like we might see more success from him in the coming races.
Mercedes is P3 in the team battles at the moment, and they likely only want to move forward in the last 10 races of 2025. With 24 points separating Mercedes from Ferrari in P2, we might see an interesting second half of the season. Especially when it comes to which team gets on the podium next to the McLaren drivers.
