George Russell believes his strong relationship with Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli has remained intact partly because the two drivers have rarely found themselves fighting each other on track this year. The British driver acknowledged that fierce rivalries between teammates often develop following on-track incidents and disagreements.
Russell believes that Antonelli's dominant performances this season have meant there were fewer opportunities for tensions to emerge between them.
"On a personal level, Kimi is obviously a great guy with lots of energy," Russell said of his bond with his teammate on Thursday in Mexico City. "We've had no reason this year not to continue a good relationship.
"I think a lot of these rivalries start because of on-track incidents or actions. The truth is he's been at a higher level than me this year, so we've not really been in that situation too often.
"We've had one or two races, and when it comes to the race itself, we sort of keep ourselves to ourselves and work with our individual engineers to try and get the most out of it."
George Russell trails Antonelli by 123 points in the title chase ahead of Sunday's Mexico Grand Prix.
George Russell spoke about the team's major upgrade and dip in performance. (Source: MEGA)
Antonelli is on the verge of winning his maiden F1 title in his second season in F1. Russell, who is competing in his fifth season with the team, has experienced some difficulties getting the most out of the Mercedes machinery as compared to the Italian.
The Briton spoke about the challenges Mercedes has encountered since introducing their last major aerodynamic upgrade package at Sepang. It was the team's first substantial update since the Canadian GP. He explained that neither driver has enjoyed a straightforward experience with the updated car.
"It's been a little bit strange for us since we brought this package to the car," Russell said. Obviously, we first brought it in Malaysia, and it was a pretty tough weekend for the two of us"
"Then Kimi had it on in Singapore. Again, not a straightforward weekend. I had it back on in Austin and struggled a lot on my side, and he obviously had a very, very strong race."
Kimi Antonelli won the United States Grand Prix to get one step closer to a maiden F1 title. (Source: MEGA)
The Italian driver is on the brink of making history by becoming Formula 1's youngest-ever world champion. He just needs two more points, a result of 9th place or higher in the Mexican Grand Prix, to secure his title and create history.
If he manages to do so, he will officially break Sebastian Vettel 's 16-year-old record as the youngest world champion.
Vettel set the milestone in 2010 at 23 years; Antonelli will obliterate that mark by over three years, taking the crown at just 20 years old.
The Mexican Grand Prix will take place at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit from October 30 to November 1.
