The start of the 2026 season has seen a fascinating development in the intra-team battle at Mercedes, with Kimi Antonelli heading George Russell at the top of the World Championship after taking two wins to the latter’s one across the opening three rounds.
While there is a long campaign ahead, it will be intriguing to see how the duel between the two plays out going forward and if it will follow the path of previous rivalries between team mates at the Silver Arrows.
With that in mind, we’ve been taking a closer look at how the numbers from the Russell vs Antonelli era stack up in comparison to every other Mercedes pairing that came before, analysing their average one-lap pace as well as the overall Qualifying and race day head-to-heads.
For clarity, our data has removed any erroneous Qualifying results – such as those caused by wet sessions, accidents on second runs, and so on – while original classifications have also been used rather than final grid slots to avoid penalties affecting the results. Any sessions/races where both drivers recorded a DNF/DSQ are also not included.
Needless to say, the 2026 data is just based on the first three rounds of the season – but the statistics make for interesting reading…
Nico Rosberg vs Michael Schumacher
Following their buyout of the Brawn GP team, Mercedes joined Formula 1 as a constructor in 2010 – and for their debut season, the squad made headlines by signing seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher for his comeback to F1 after a three-year hiatus.
Nico Rosberg joined from Williams as Schumacher’s team mate, marking the beginning of a line-up that spanned three seasons.
The statistics show that Rosberg generally outpaced Schumacher both in Qualifying and race trim throughout this time, particularly in 2011 where Schumacher’s average Qualifying deficit to Rosberg of 0.326s is the largest gap from any Mercedes duo in the team’s history. Rosberg’s average Qualifying classification of 6.79 was also three places ahead of Schumacher’s.
However, the delta closed in 2012 and Schumacher recorded a slightly better average Qualifying position of 8.71 in comparison to Rosberg’s 9.47. In what would be his last season in F1, Schumacher also memorably set the fastest time in Q3 for the Monaco Grand Prix, only for a five-place grid penalty to drop him down to P6.
When the veteran driver departed from the team, he was replaced by Rosberg’s former karting rival Lewis Hamilton – kickstarting a memorable period in the Silver Arrows’ history…
Lewis Hamilton vs Nico Rosberg
After six seasons racing for McLaren – with whom he scored his maiden World Championship – Hamilton caught some F1 fans by surprise when he opted for a switch to Mercedes in 2013, the team having claimed only one race victory in the three years prior.
But while they could not match reigning champions Red Bull in Hamilton’s first campaign, the squad’s fortunes started to improve during 2013, with both Hamilton and Rosberg taking victories. It was Hamilton who just had the better of his team mate in Qualifying trim.
However, the gap between the pair tightened when the turbo-hybrid era kicked in for 2014, marking the beginnings of a period of dominance for Mercedes. Rosberg was the faster in Qualifying form, but Hamilton would go on to experience title glory.
Hamilton opened up the gap again in 2015 during his next championship-winning campaign – and while Rosberg sealed the crown after a hard-fought scrap in 2016, the data shows that Hamilton still had the better one-lap pace.
The overall head-to-head numbers from their four years as team mates show that Hamilton just had the edge throughout, with 42 better Qualifying finishes to Rosberg’s 36, while he leads the race day statistics on 44 to 33.
Lewis Hamilton vs Valtteri Bottas
With Rosberg making an unexpected exit at the end of his title-winning 2016 campaign, Mercedes were left with a vacancy to fill – and they ultimately decided to bring Valtteri Bottas on board, the Finn having scored a number of podiums during his three years with Williams.
The pairing of Hamilton and Bottas became the Silver Arrows’ longest to date – spanning five seasons – and it was during this time that the former embarked on a stunning run of four consecutive World Championships, his feat only brought to an end in 2021 by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Throughout their spell as team mates, Hamilton consistently led the way in terms of one-lap pace. The margin was at its finest, however, when it came down to 0.120s in 2019, a season that statistically remains Bottas’ best in the sport.
In terms of the head-to-heads from the whole five years, Hamilton leads the Qualifying battle on 69 to 31. The gap is greater for the race day count, the seven-time World Champion experiencing a better Sunday result 74 times in comparison to Bottas’ 25.
Bottas – who achieved 10 victories in his time with Mercedes – parted ways with the Brackley-based outfit at the close of 2021, while Hamilton would welcome another former Williams racer as his new team mate…
Lewis Hamilton vs George Russell
The 2022 season saw Russell make the step up following a three-year stint with Williams, the Briton having long been a member of the Mercedes Junior Programme.
It seemingly did not take long for the new arrival to adjust, with the average delta between Hamilton and Russell standing at just 0.009s in their first season together – marking the smallest gap between any Mercedes team mates across our data.
Hamilton just had the advantage in this season, as he did again in 2023 – but the situation changed quite noticeably in 2024, a year in which Russell took the momentum. This was most prominent in Qualifying, where the latter’s average classified position of 5.17 was some way ahead of Hamilton’s 8.50.
Across their three campaigns together, Russell came out on top in the Qualifying head-to-head on 39 to Hamilton’s 29. In race trim, however, the pair drew equal on 34 apiece, during a period that proved tougher for Mercedes amid the introduction of the ground effect era in 2022.
Before 2024 had even started, the squad were faced with an impending seismic change when Hamilton’s departure for Ferrari in 2025 was announced, bringing an end to a 12-year partnership that had delivered six Drivers’ Championships and a record-breaking run of eight consecutive Teams’ crowns.
George Russell vs Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes opted to replace the veteran Hamilton with a rookie for 2025, promoting F2 racer Antonelli – another member of the Junior Programme who had enjoyed a rapid progression through the motorsport ranks – to partner Russell.
After a strong start to his rookie campaign, Antonelli faced a challenging spell during the European leg of the season before starting to find his feet again in the latter stages. As such, the Italian was unable to match the more experienced Russell, with the average delta between them of 0.293s proving to be the largest gap since Rosberg and Schumacher in 2011.
In terms of Qualifying classification, Russell’s average position of 3.96 gave him an edge of 4.34 places over Antonelli – the biggest difference between Mercedes team mates in the squad’s history.
However, while the 2026 season is still in its early stages, the picture has evolved. Antonelli has so far been the faster on one-lap pace albeit with a fine margin, his delta averaging at 0.054s from Russell. There is also little to choose between them in Qualifying classification, with Antonelli on an average position of 1.33 compared to Russell’s 1.67.
Across their overall time as team mates to date, Russell leads both Qualifying and race day head-to-heads by 22 to 5 on each count. However, Antonelli has outqualified and finished ahead of Russell in five of the last eight Grands Prix, that being his two 2026 victories coupled with good results in Mexico, Brazil and Qatar last season.
It is clear that Antonelli has stepped up during his sophomore campaign – but can the current championship leader continue his momentum as the season progresses?
For more visual comparisons of how the Russell vs Antonelli battle compares to those that came before, check out the graphs below.
