Antonelli believes Russell has ‘momentum’ after Baku win as he expects ‘tough challenge’ at Bahrain Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli has voiced his belief that George Russell has “got the momentum” following his victory last time out in Azerbaijan, with the Italian expecting a “tough challenge” ahead during the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia weekend.

There were mixed fortunes for the Mercedes drivers in Baku, as Antonelli found himself starting from P16 on the grid following a crash during the first segment of Qualifying while Russell surged to pole position.

While Antonelli made progress on Sunday and climbed up to fifth place, Russell held off a chasing Max Verstappen to claim his first win since the Austrian Grand Prix in June, cutting his team mate’s lead at the top of the drivers’ standings down to 66 points in the process.

Reflecting on the weekend in Baku, Antonelli acknowledged that it had been difficult but also spoke of the positives that he has taken forward in terms of what he learned.

“Last weekend was probably the worst weekend from me, from my side of the season,” he explained during media day in Malaysia. “But still, very good learning from the weekend, and it was also a very strange race for me in Baku because it was one of those races where I consciously tried not to take any risk and just drive under the limit, which was very weird but good.

“It was what I needed on Sunday – I needed a clean result after a very disrupted weekend. After the race, I wasn't happy with the result and everything, but I learn many things.

“The most important is that I need to always be 100 per cent and I need to really do my best to achieve the best result, because if I don't do everything right, or I don't try to do everything right in my power, then nothing is going to come my way.”

Pushed on whether he is now expecting a more intense battle with Russell going forward – and if he feels ready for this – Antonelli responded: “For sure. He did an incredible weekend in Baku and he's got the momentum, but on my side, it was definitely the worst weekend of the season for me.

“But obviously I learned a lot from it and I’m really excited and looking forward to this weekend because I think it's going to be a big opportunity to score big points. Of course the mindset is always the same to go out there and win, but for sure George has been doing great, especially last weekend, and it's going to be a tough challenge but I’m looking forward to it.”

Mercedes will run an upgrade package on the W17 in Sepang – alongside a special livery for the occasion – and Antonelli admitted that he is excited to experience the circuit.

“I’m very much looking forward [to it],” the 20-year-old said. “I’ve just done the track walk and the track looks amazing. The tarmac is very open, very abrasive, so it’s going to be very hard on tyres but, other than that, I'm looking forward to it.

“We have upgrades this weekend. It’s always nice the more experience you make, you also appreciate more whenever you bring upgrades because you notice straight away the difference and the details.

“It looks pretty cool, the car with the upgrades. I’m really looking forward to it, and hopefully it’s going to make us even faster.”

When asked about his expectations for the updates – and which areas he would like to improve on as a driver – Antonelli added: “The upgrades should bring more grip, more downforce in the car, so on that side hopefully we will have more grip.

“Let's see how the balance is going to change of the car with the new upgrade. Areas we need to improve… a bit overall, to be fair. I think there's many areas where I can improve on driving.

“I think this track is going to be a really good test for me, because it's very long corners where it's really important not to over-slow the car too much. It's probably an area where I need to work on quite a bit, but I’m looking forward to it. I did some laps on the sim and it felt good, but of course we'll see on the real track.”