Russell closes in as F1 leader Antonelli seeks response in Malaysia
Formula One F1 – Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Baku City Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan – September 26, 2026 Mercedes’ George Russell and Kimi Antonelli ahead of the race REUTERS/Jakub Porzycki
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SEPANG, Malaysia, Sept 30 : Formula One’s championship battle takes an intriguing twist this weekend as Mercedes teammates Kimi Antonelli and George Russell renew their rivalry at an unlikely venue, Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit.
Although Sepang remains a permanent fixture on the MotoGP calendar, it has not hosted a Formula One race since 2017 after the Malaysian government said it could no longer justify the hosting costs given the declining returns.
But the Mercedes duo will now be fighting for supremacy in what has been rebranded the “Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia” after the original Bahrain race was relocated from Sakhir due to the Iran war and Middle East tensions.
Championship leader Antonelli arrives in Malaysia with a 66-point advantage over Russell after his 81-point cushion took a significant hit at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he endured what he called his “worst weekend” of the season.
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The Italian, who has won eight races this year and is on course to become his country’s first F1 champion since Alberto Ascari 73 years ago, started 16th after a qualifying crash before salvaging fifth place.
By Antonelli’s own admission, it was not the version of himself we have seen for most of the year and after the 20-year-old struggled to find his usual rhythm in Baku, he can sense his team mate looming ever larger in the rearview mirrors.
“He’s always been my rival. But I’ll make sure I re-establish the order, just make sure that I will be back at my usual level because (in Baku) I was driving more like my grandma, so it wasn’t the usual Kimi,” Antonelli said.
“In the race, I didn’t have the confidence, and I just drove at 80 per cent the whole time.
“Realistically, I wasn’t there mentally to be able to push 100 per cent as well because I just didn’t have the confidence that I had previous weekends. But it will be much better in Sepang.”
RUSSELL HAS MOMENTUM AFTER FIRST GRAND SLAM
With Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton trailing Antonelli by 103 points in third, the title fight has effectively become a straight duel at the top and Russell arrives brimming with the momentum and confidence he has built since the summer break.
Baku was the Briton’s weekend as he became only the seventh driver on the grid to achieve a Grand Slam – pole position, leading in every lap, clocking the fastest lap and taking the victory, his third of the season.
A championship fight that once seemed to be slipping away from Russell has suddenly returned to view.
“There’s much less pressure on me than there is him,” Russell said.
“He’s had an incredibly flawless season, (qualifying in Baku) was probably his first mistake of this whole season in a proper session… and he still came home in P5.
“I didn’t really consider myself in this fight for a number of races purely because my performance wasn’t strong enough. Now I feel like if the season were to have started today, or since the summer break, I feel very much I would have been able to fight.”
The question remains whether Russell can turn one extraordinary weekend into a sustained challenge or if Antonelli will respond immediately with eight rounds remaining in the 23-race season.
However, uncertainty looms over the calendar’s conclusion, with doubts persisting whether the final two rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi will proceed due to the ongoing regional conflict.
Source: Reuters
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