MUMBAI: When George Russell was in his rookie year in Formula 1 back in 2019, Kimi Antonelli was just turning heads, although he had already shown promise in karting. Fast forward to 2026 and it’s an exciting story set on the track, with two racing drivers at the center of the plot. It is not Russell, the experienced dog, who is leading the F1 driver’s race, but his Mercedes teammate Antonelli, still a teenager, who sits at the top with a 40-point lead going into Sunday’s British Grand Prix. Losing a piece of the good looks you thought belonged here, especially in a sport as special as F1, can be heartbreaking. If that’s the case with Russell, then I have a feeling fellow Briton and former F1 champion Damon Hill would agree. “As a driver, if you spend a few years with a team, there are two ways of looking at it. Either you are part of the seats, or you feel at home,” Hill, who became a champion with Williams 30 years ago, told a select group of journalists during a call on Friday. “When a driver is in a team, they don’t think that they are the main asset of the team. They will get a new driver and if that driver delivers well for them, then the loyalty and interest goes to another driver. “So the problem with being a racing driver in our sport is that you’re not part of the team. As long as you’re there, you’re part of the team, but you still have to prove yourself against the other guy. So you’re in a constant battle to establish your position.” Unless, as Hill explained, you have a problem like Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing. “(Max) is able to maintain the prestige of the team until the team belongs to him. This is very difficult, very difficult in a team like Mercedes. And it is difficult when you have a guy who is coming like I had with David Coultard especially in my time,” recalled Hill. “I was fighting Michael Schumacher at the race in ’94, and I would have had David Coultard come and come and take points from me or Nigel Mansell. “And I kept saying to the team, ‘How am I supposed to beat that? I’m a guy who’s staying here for the whole season to fight Michael Schumacher for the championship, and you keep throwing in wild cards like Nigel Mansell and David Coultard, who should also be racing, but they’re only there for a short time’. “It doesn’t seem like a good move to me, but it’s very confusing.” The only way to deal with it? Make sure you’re a good driver, Hill said. “If that person is being looked at because they are doing great things and delivering results, the only answer is, you have to do better than them. “He knows the contract, but it would feel like he’s been given a bit of a hand if he hires someone who’s better,” the 65-year-old said. In what is shaping up to be a title battle involving two drivers from the same team for the second consecutive season, Hill encouraged the 19-year-old Italian to pull out. “I think the favorite is Kimi because he has the equipment. Mercedes has been very stable and he has the benefit of points. And I think he is still in high school. So George has a hill to climb to get him in. I’m not saying he can’t do it, but I think from what I’ve seen, this guy is something else. So Hill we’ll see. (Fans can watch the British GP only on FanCode)