George Russell tipped to beat Kimi Antonelli at Monaco GP as Mercedes battle heats up

Will Buxton's prediction is less about Russell's raw pace and more about the specific demands Monaco places on experience and precision — qualities that tend to favour drivers who've been around long enough to respect the walls. Antonelli's momentum through the early season has been a talking point, but street circuits have a way of resetting narratives regardless of recent form. The framing here also reflects how seriously the Mercedes intra-team battle is now being taken: when pundits start picking circuit-by-circuit winners between teammates, it signals the gap is close enough to matter. Monaco will tell us whether Antonelli's confidence translates to a track that punishes overreach more than any other.