AUGUST 27, 2026

Schumacher calls Antonelli Mercedes' clear number one

Ralf Schumacher believes championship leader Kimi Antonelli has already established himself ahead of George Russell at Mercedes.

Mercedes has not publicly declared a number-one driver, but Ralf Schumacher believes the championship table has already done the job for it.

Kimi Antonelli leads the standings with 242 points, 59 more than both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. The 20-year-old has finished on the podium in ten of his 12 starts, with technical trouble accounting for the two exceptions.

Schumacher argues that this consistency, rather than outright speed on any particular weekend, has established Antonelli as Mercedes' leading driver.

He is clearly the better driver in the team, Schumacher told Sky Deutschland, adding that Antonelli remains far from the limit of his development because of his age and relative lack of experience.

His assessment is that Russell should accept the internal reality, concentrate on individual races and attempt to beat Antonelli on the track rather than fight the hierarchy around it.

That is easier advice to give than to follow. Russell remains level with Hamilton and has just won the Zandvoort Sprint, while Antonelli's Dutch Grand Prix pace faded sufficiently for Mercedes to begin investigating the balance of his car.

Antonelli will also start at the back at Monza after taking a new engine. That gives Russell an opportunity to reduce the deficit, although one weekend is unlikely to settle a discussion that has the rest of the season to run.

Schumacher's verdict is therefore an opinion rather than a Mercedes policy announcement. But Formula 1 teams rarely need to publish a hierarchy when the points gap becomes large enough. If Antonelli continues accumulating podiums at his present rate, practical decisions will eventually follow the arithmetic.