George Russell may be driving for Formula 1’s dominant team, but according to former F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone, the Briton is already out of the 2026 title conversation.
And in classic Ecclestone fashion, the 95-year-old did not waste time dressing it up.
As the Formula 1 paddock begins to brace for a season-defining stretch, Ecclestone has declared that the championship battle will ultimately become a straight shootout between teenage Mercedes sensation Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – with Russell nowhere in sight.
“Antonelli or Verstappen will be world champion,” Ecclestone bluntly told Blick’s Roger Benoit.
While Mercedes continues to steamroll the field this season, it is not Russell leading the charge. Instead, the sport has been swept up by the astonishing rise of Antonelli, whose third consecutive victory in Miami turned whispers of a title challenge into full-blown expectation.
Just four races into the campaign, the 19-year-old Italian has already opened a 20-point advantage over his experienced team-mate and appears to have seized control of both the momentum and the Mercedes garage itself.
For Ecclestone, that shift already looks irreversible.
And while many in the paddock had expected Russell to emerge as Mercedes’ long-awaited championship leader, the former F1 supremo clearly believes Antonelli has skipped the apprenticeship phase entirely.
Verstappen lurking in the shadows
Yet Ecclestone is equally convinced that writing off Verstappen would be a dangerous mistake – no matter how challenging Red Bull’s start to the season looked.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit arrived in Miami under pressure after a difficult opening stretch left Verstappen a staggering 74 points behind Antonelli in the standings. But a major upgrade package suddenly reignited both the Dutchman and the team.
Ecclestone believes that could change everything.
"Red Bull has apparently overcome the slump,” he said. “Max has caught fire again – and then he’s dangerous.”
Formula 1 has seen this movie before. Last season, Verstappen looked down and out before Red Bull clawed its way back into contention during the second half of the year.
And if Miami truly marked the beginning of another resurgence, Ecclestone’s prediction may not sound so outrageous after all.
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