George Russell has been trounced by Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli so far in the 2026 Formula 1 season, and the Briton has to respond as soon as possible.

That is the claim of former F1 driver Johnny Herbert, who admitted he was surprised by how the situation changed between the Mercedes pair while also tipping Russell to bounce back and add to his solitary win in 2026 compared to three for Antonelli.

"It is too early to rule out George," Herbert said. "George is no fool. George definitely has the pace that he needs to be able to take it to Kimi.

"Now he needs mentally to get in a place where he suddenly switches it around and pushes that other pressure, teammate pressure, onto Kimi.

"It can still swap around," Herbert claimed. "He's got to be able to use the negativity that's happening at the moment and switch it around into a positive. And all that means having a smoother weekend where you're out qualifying your teammate."

Herbert, a veteran of 161 Grands Prix between 1989 and 2000, warned that Antonelli will only grow stronger while also offering some advice to Russell.

"Kimi, I feel he's only going to get stronger this season. That's my only worry for George," he said. "The only way that he's able to jump on top of the situation is by working very hard with his engineer, having the right mental approach.

"That has to change. He had the belief that he could beat Kimi. Now it's different. Now he's having to think, 'How do I beat Kimi? How is he outfoxing me at the present time?'"

The first opportunity for Russell to hit back is this weekend in Canada, a track he has usually done well at.

Russell needs to dig his heels in next weekend in Canada

Herbert said: "He's got to go to Canada and basically dig his heels in and really make the point as soon as he possibly can.

"He has to start to control his own destiny. I think that's what you've got. That means learning from your teammate but applying it into your car.

"At the end of the day, when you're in the cockpit on your own, he has to make every single element of these very complicated cars work for you.

"The only person who can do that is George himself," the 61-year-old maintained.

And while Russell has to worry about his teammate in Canada, there are other threats out there from other teams in the form of McLaren, whose reigning Champion Lando Norris was the closest challenger to the Mercedes drivers last time out in the Miami Grand Prix.

"You definitely can't write Lando off yet," Herbert warned. "At the end of last season he was mighty strong when it mattered, and he did everything he needed to do to win.

"Now because of that and as a world champion, he has the mental capacity now to be able to turn it around in his favor.

"He will feel very positive after the show in Miami itself, and I'm sure he would take that to Canada. Canada is a track that actually could benefit Lando more than Kimi or George," Herbert concluded. (Source: Jackpot City Casino)