The 2025 season marked a new era for Mercedes, with George Russell stepping up as team leader while rookie Kimi Antonelli arrived to fill the vacancy left by Lewis Hamilton. A strong start to the campaign was followed by a run of tougher races – but after reverting to an older package seemed to deliver results just before the summer break, can the Silver Arrows maintain this into the second half of the year? Here is their half term report…
Best finish
George Russell – 1st in Canada
Russell looked to be in a good run of form when the campaign kicked off, the Briton standing on the podium at four of the opening six races. The European triple header was more challenging for both Russell and Antonelli – but better was to come at Round 10 in Canada.
In a repeat of what happened at the same venue 12 months earlier, Russell grabbed pole position in Qualifying. However, unlike the 2024 event – in which he lost out on the win to Max Verstappen – the Mercedes driver this time converted that P1 grid slot into victory.
The result was made all the sweeter by the other W16 of Antonelli making it a double podium in third place, marking the first time that the Italian had stood on the rostrum in his young F1 career.
Qualifying head-to-head
Russell 13-1 Antonelli
Perhaps unsurprisingly during Antonelli’s first season in the top echelon, Russell has outscored the rookie in all but one Grand Prix Qualifying session so far, with his best showing being that pole position in Montreal.
The weekend in which Antonelli put himself ahead of his more experienced team mate on the grid was at Round 6 in Miami, the youngster taking P3 while Russell lined up two places behind. This also came just one day after Antonelli clinched pole in Sprint Qualifying, making him the youngest driver in F1 history to take pole position in any format.
Race head-to-head
Russell 14-0 Antonelli
Russell has also led the way on Sundays from Antonelli, having crossed the line before his fellow Silver Arrows driver at every Grand Prix during the first half of the season. And while Russell is yet to suffer a DNF, Antonelli has had worse luck, recording four retirements so far.
Points-wise, Russell is currently sitting in P4 of the Drivers’ Championship with a tally of 172 points, 108 more than Antonelli in seventh place. This has given Mercedes a total of 236 points, putting them third in the Teams’ Standings.
Worst moment
When F1 kicked off its European leg with a triple header spanning Imola, Monaco and Spain, this also brought with it a tricky run for Mercedes. Antonelli retired from his home race as well as in Barcelona, while Russell was involved in a controversial collision with the Red Bull of Verstappen at the latter event.
However, the toughest weekend of all for the Silver Arrows was at Round 8 in Monte Carlo. Both drivers suffered early exits in Qualifying, with Antonelli crashing out during the final minutes of Q1 while Russell’s car lost power in Q2, leaving the pair to start from P15 and P14 respectively.
Things did not improve come Sunday, as both drivers found themselves stuck in traffic. Russell became so frustrated at being unable to pass the Williams of Alex Albon that he cut the Nouvelle Chicane to overtake, a decision he received a drive-through penalty for. Crossing the line in P11 – with Antonelli back in P18 – it proved to be the only weekend so far in which Mercedes have scored no points.
Going forward
Having struggled for pace in comparison to their rivals across recent races, the decision to revert back to a previous suspension just before the summer break in Hungary seemed to pay off for Mercedes, with Russell returning to the podium while Antonelli scored his first points since Canada.
With this seemingly suggesting that the introduction of a newer package back in May was the cause of their issues, the Brackley-based outfit will be hoping that this change in direction will set them on the right path for the second half of the campaign.
This decision also appeared crucial in building confidence for Antonelli, the rookie having endured some ups and downs during his debut season so far. Russell, meanwhile, has been praised by Technical Director James Allison for “setting a very, very high bar”, meaning that both drivers will be looking to build on this further going forward.
Off the track, much talk has centred around Mercedes’ driver line-up for 2026 amid speculation linking Verstappen to the team. However, with the Dutchman recently stating that he will remain with Red Bull, this topic is likely to be less of an external focus, with Russell conceding that it is a case of “when not if” he will sign a new deal with the squad.
Should that soon be settled, both Russell and Antonelli will be focused on trying to chase down Ferrari in the Teams’ Championship and reclaim the P2 that they held in the earlier stages of the season.
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