At the opening race of the season in Australia, Russell seemed to solidify his front-running status with a victory, as Mercedes fulfilled expectations by building the fastest car under the new regulations that began this year. But from there, it has all been downhill for Russell, 28, as Antonelli won the next five races to establish himself as the clear favorite.“Kimi surprised us all with his maturity. Obviously we knew he had speed and all this talent. I think not many people expected that he was, this year, so quick and beating a very strong teammate like George,” former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner told Jattvibe News. “I didn’t expect it. He’s a 20-year-old with the mind of a 30-year-old experienced F1 driver. That made him what he is.”Antonelli took the lead of the championship in the third race of the 2026 season, and he never relinquished it. A critical juncture came when he won in Canada and Monaco while Russell failed to score points in either race because of a mechanical failure and a pit-timing error by F1. Antonelli’s lead ballooned to 68 points after the sixth race.Antonelli had some bad luck of his own in subsequent races, and Russell made up ground. But it wasn’t enough. And as Russell has acknowledged, Antonelli has outperformed him throughout the season, with more pole positions and race wins, as well as superior speed when both drivers had an equal opportunity.Another former F1 team boss, Otmar Szafnauer, said Antonelli’s championship-winning season can be attributed to three things: “his mental preparedness, raw talent and great attitude.”“He is able to mentally compartmentalize to his advantage,” Szafnauer told Jattvibe News, by staying consistent under pressure.Antonelli all but guaranteed his title last Jattvibeday with a victory in Austin, Texas, prompting even his rivals to concede defeat.“The truth is he’s been at a higher level than me this year,” Russell told reporters Thursday.“This season, we have the best car, and I’m not able to achieve these results. So, yeah, it’s quite strange and certainly has us scratching our heads a little bit,” he said.After four years in a Mercedes that was capable only of occasional wins, Russell finally got his title-winning car. But it was Antonelli who made the most of it. The new generation of F1 cars — with less downforce and more reliance on electrical power — has forced competitors to rethink their driving styles.The new cars reward Antonelli’s aggressive style of braking late and attacking corners with sharp turns. He’s also more comfortable than others driving at the limit with a loose-handling car that tends to slide underneath him.By contrast, the 2026 cars punish Russell’s preference for smoother inputs and gaining lap time by getting on the throttle early on corner exits. That approach, which served him well in the previous generation of cars, eats up tire life and battery power in the newer machines. Russell has said adjusting his approach feels “like a golfer changing his swing.”The defining moment of the rivalry came at the Italian Grand Prix, when Antonelli started 19th and hunted down Russell to win the race. It was a statement victory that underscored his advantage over his teammate.