May 6 (GMM) Nico Rosberg believes a future clash between Kimi Antonelli and George Russell is now inevitable as the teenage sensation continues piling pressure on his more experienced Mercedes teammate.
After Miami, Antonelli now leads Russell by 20 points in the championship following an extraordinary start to the season that has included his first three Formula 1 wins all coming from pole position – something no other driver in Formula 1 history achieved.
The situation is increasingly awkward for Russell, who entered 2026 expecting to finally lead Mercedes in a dominant car after establishing himself as the team’s senior driver following Lewis Hamilton’s departure.
Publicly, Mercedes insists relations remain calm and cooperative.
But 2016 world champion Rosberg says that will not last forever.
“Of course, a clash between the two of them will come,” the German, who clashed spectacularly with Hamilton when they were teammates at Mercedes, told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“We’ve already seen how close they are, and it’s inevitable that it will happen, especially if there’s a chance of winning a title at stake.”
Rosberg said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff must prepare early to avoid the sort of destructive rivalry that once exploded between himself and Hamilton.
“When things happen on the track, you have to deal with them off it,” he said.
“This is more of a piece of advice for Toto Wolff.”
“He needs to sit down with them, discuss everything, and know in advance how to behave when certain confrontational situations arise.”
Rosberg also lavished praise on Antonelli, comparing the Italian teenager directly to Max Verstappen.
“A phenomenon,” he said. “One of the greatest talents I’ve ever seen in karting, along with Max Verstappen.”
“Last year, when he had some difficult moments and some people doubted his ability, I kept repeating ‘Calm down, you have to give him time, this guy will get there.'”
“And so it was.”
His advice to Antonelli now is simple. “Keep driving like this,” Rosberg said.
“And then he’ll have to be able to switch everything off. Not listen to or watch the things that are said about him around him.”
“Dedicate himself to the season race by race.”
Former F1 driver Timo Glock, meanwhile, suggested Russell contributed to his own difficult Miami weekend by reacting too slowly to Antonelli’s setup direction.
“If I’m a step behind all weekend and realise that my teammate is running a different differential setting, then I need to try it out after Friday or Saturday at the latest,” Glock told Sky Deutschland.
“You know exactly what the other guy is doing.”
“George Russell needs to react earlier if he’s averaging four tenths of a second too slow.”