Motor racing-Russell wary of Antonelli threat despite dominant Baku pole

Formula One F1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku City Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan - September 25, 2026 Mercedes' George Russell celebrates after qualifying in pole position REUTERS/Jakub Porzycki

BAKU, Sept 25 (Reuters) - ⁠George Russell refused to rule out Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli as a threat ⁠to his victory hopes in Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, despite the Briton ‌starting from pole and the championship leader 16thafter a costly qualifying crash.

“Obviously, you can’t discount Kimi,” said Russell after eclipsing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, his closest challenger, by 0.837 seconds in Friday’s qualifying.

“You know, started 19th ​in Monza and now he’s in 16th, so, yeah, ⁠he should be leading by ⁠a few laps early this time,” joked Russell after Antonelli recovered to win his home ⁠Italian ‌Grand Prix earlier this month.

Antonelli, who leads Russell by 81 points in the overall standings after 14 rounds, was sidelined in the opening phase of ⁠qualifying after he clobbered the barriers at the first corner ​and was forced to ‌park up with a broken suspension.

The 20-year-old lost crucial track time after being ⁠hit by a ​hydraulics issue on the opening day of practice and has played catch up to Russell ever since.

The Briton in contrast has looked the more at ease and dialled-in of the Mercedes ⁠pair around the tricky Baku street circuit layout.

“I’ve been ​feeling in a great spot this whole weekend,” said Russell. “You know, as I’ve said recently, I’m just getting more and more on top of this car and what it requires, ⁠and it’s just all feeling more intuitive."

Antonelli’s mistake provides an opportunity for Russell to put a dent in his championship advantage.

The last time he had such a chance was at Monza, when he started on the front row with Antonelli at the back ​of the grid.

He finished second to the Italian then but ⁠is determined to convert this time out in Azerbaijan.

“I’m feeling good,” said Russell.

“I think ​we’re in a great place to go for the ‌win but, of course, this is Baku and ​anything can happen ... but whatever happens, I feel confident that we can go for the win.”

(Reporting by Abhishek Takle in Baku; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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一级方程式F1 - 阿塞拜疆大奖赛 - 巴库城市赛道，巴库，阿塞拜疆 - 2026年9月25日 梅赛德斯车队的乔治·拉塞尔在获得杆位后庆祝 路透社/雅库布·波尔齐茨基

巴库，9 月 25 日（路透社）——尽管英国车手乔治·拉塞尔从杆位发车，但在排位赛中遭遇代价惨重的撞车事故后仅排在第 16 位，但他仍然拒绝排除梅赛德斯队友基米·安东内利对他周六在阿塞拜疆大奖赛上的胜利构成威胁。

“显然，你不能低估基米，”拉塞尔在周五的排位赛中以 0.837 秒的优势击败了法拉利车队的查尔斯·勒克莱尔（他最接近的挑战者）后说道。

“你知道，他在蒙扎从第 19 位发车，现在已经升到第 16 位了，所以，是的，这次他应该早早领先几圈了，”拉塞尔在安东内利本月早些时候逆转赢得家乡意大利大奖赛后开玩笑说。

安东内利在 14 轮比赛后总积分榜上领先拉塞尔 81 分，但在排位赛第一阶段，他撞上第一个弯道的护栏，被迫停在赛道上，悬挂系统也损坏了。

这位 20 岁的车手在练习赛首日遭遇液压系统故障，损失了宝贵的赛道时间，此后一直努力追赶拉塞尔。

相比之下，英国车手在复杂的巴库街道赛道布局上，看起来比梅赛德斯车队的两位车手更加轻松自如，也更加适应赛道。

“整个周末我都感觉状态很好，”拉塞尔说。“你知道，就像我最近说的那样，我对这辆车以及它需要我做什么越来越了解，一切都变得更加顺畅了。”

安东内利的失误给了拉塞尔一个缩小与冠军差距的机会。

他上一次有这样的机会是在蒙扎赛道，当时他从第一排发车，而安东内利则在最后排。

他上次屈居意大利选手之后获得第二名，但他决心这次在阿塞拜疆取得胜利。

“我感觉很好，”拉塞尔说。

“我认为我们现在处于一个非常有利的位置，很有希望赢得比赛，但当然，这里是巴库，什么都可能发生……但无论发生什么，我都有信心我们能够赢得比赛。”

（阿比舍克·塔克勒在巴库报道；肯·费里斯编辑）

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