George Russell tipped to beat Kimi Antonelli at Mo...

3 Views

Former Method 1 TV presenter Will Buxton has tipped Mercedes driver George Russell as a major candidate to grasp the unforgiving streets of the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.

Talking on the Up To Pace podcast, Buxton defined why he believes that the Monaco Grand Prix might be the weekend that Russell stops his team-mate Kimi Antonelli’s momentum.

“Mercedes has such a bonus anyway. It looks like it should be their weekend. And we speak about needing finesse, accuracy and consistency, I really feel it is a George weekend,” Buxton stated.

The Monaco Grand Prix will kick off the European leg of the 2026 season, and Russell might be hoping that he can put a dent in his team-mate’s lead within the drivers’ standings.

Whereas Russell gained the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and the Chinese language dash race, Antonelli has dominated since. The 19-year-old grew to become the youngest driver within the historical past of F1 to guide the championship after back-to-back wins on the Chinese language and Japanese Grands Prix, and he has continued his profitable streak with victories in Miami and Canada.

Buxton argued that, because the intra-team battle at Mercedes intensifies, Russell is starting to play thoughts video games.

“I feel his feedback publish Canada that the stress is off him, and he is obtained nothing to lose now and all of that, I feel that in and of itself is a bit of thoughts gamey,” the previous presenter added. “Making an attempt to place the stress on Kimi, making an attempt to take it off himself. However whether or not he can drive with that freedom stays to be seen.

“Kimi, we love how he races. We love his youthful exuberance and the extremities that he can go to, and that may look a bit of wild. So whether or not he can tame that round Monaco’s streets might be fascinating to see.

“Individuals at all times stated that Max was fairly a wild driver and fairly lurid, and he tamed Monaco, however not earlier than he’d had some fairly massive shunts at Monaco.”

The Monaco Grand Prix will happen this weekend from 5-7 June.