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Rob Smedley warns George Russell that he’s repeating the mistake Felipe Massa made at Ferrari

George Russell’s current Mercedes struggles alongside Kimi Antonelli are something Felipe Massa can relate to. When it was widely rumoured that Mercedes had a strong…

F1 Oversteer

Published: Friday, 23 October 2026 at 12:30 PM

Key Things to Know

Rob Smedley warns George Russell is repeating Felipe Massa's mistake of overthinking his teammate's performance.
Smedley compared Russell's situation with Kimi Antonelli to Massa losing team focus to Fernando Alonso in 2010.
Kimi Antonelli leads Russell by 102 points with six races remaining in the 2026 season.

The Story in 60 Seconds

Former Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley has warned George Russell that he is repeating Felipe Massa's mistakes amid Kimi Antonelli's dominance at Mercedes. Speaking on High Performance Racing, Smedley compared Russell's current internal struggle against Antonelli to Massa's 2010 rivalry with Fernando Alonso at Ferrari, arguing that Russell is overthinking his teammate's actions.

Antonelli holds a 102-point lead over Russell with six Grands Prix remaining in 2026, putting him on the brink of becoming Formula 1's youngest champion. Smedley stated that Antonelli races freely, while Russell's fixation on his teammate is widening the performance gap between them.

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Rob Smedley warns George Russell that he’s repeating the mistake Felipe Massa made at Ferrari

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