Former W Series driver and Sky Sports analyst Naomi Schiff has argued that Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff is not someone who drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli would want to cross in team orders discussions.
Russell was a clear favourite heading into the 2026 season. But after winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and the Chinese sprint race, his 19-year-old team-mate Antonelli became a threat to his championship push.
The Italian driver now leads the standings by 20 points over Russell after winning the Chinese, Japanese and Miami Grands Prix. His somewhat surprising boost in performance has now begged the question of team orders within the Brackley outfit.
While discussing how Mercedes could deal with the intra-team dynamic, Schiff explained on the Up To Speed podcast: "First of all, Toto will have learned a lot of lessons from the Hamilton-Rosberg era, the one that we all saw come crashing down back in 2016.
"But I think he also put out a message saying that these drivers need to remember that they are not bigger than the team. And if anyone starts to think it's about them, he's going to correct that very quickly. Now, I don't know about you guys, but as lovely and as charming as Toto comes across, he doesn't really give me the feeling that he's someone that you want to cross.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Toto Wolff, Mercedes
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Toto Wolff, Mercedes
"So, I think that he's going to be very, very clear with his drivers. And when it comes to Antonelli, he's obviously, as we've been saying, the youngest teenager to ever lead the Formula 1 world championship, which also means he has a long career ahead of him.
"He knows he's got to keep Toto on side. I think it's probably a little trickier for George because there is this potential pressure around his seat. So does he play the game? Because he knows that that gives him more of a chance to maintain it should Max Verstappen become available. Or does that little selfish driver characteristic come out and say, 'Well, this is my one and only chance to win the world championship potentially so do I just go for it?'"
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