Mumbai: When George Russell was in his new Formula 1 season in 2019, Kimi Antonelli had just become a teenager, although he had already started showing promise as he climbed the karting ranks. Fast forward to 2026 and it’s a fascinating story unfolding on the track, with the two racing drivers central to the plot. It is not Russell, the experienced dog, who leads the F1 drivers’ championship, but his Mercedes teammate Antonelli, still a teenager, who sits on top with a 40-point lead in Sunday’s British Grand Prix. Watching a young hotshot capture the spotlight you most likely imagined to be your own by now, especially in a sport as unique as F1, can be an ego-bruising experience. If that’s the case with Russell, then it’s a sentiment that fellow Brit and former F1 champion Damon Hill can easily relate to. “As a driver, if you spend many years with a team, there are two ways to see it. Either you become part of the furniture, or you feel at home,” Hill, who became 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 cannot consider that they are the main concern of that team. They really have a new driver and if that driver offers better for them, then the joy and interest goes towards the other driver. “So the problem with being a racing driver in our sport is that you’re not really part of the team. For as long as you’re there, you’re part of the team, but you always 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 situation like Max Verstappen with Red Bull Racing. “(Max) is able to maintain that preeminence in the team until the point that the team becomes then on him. It is much, much more difficult in a team like Mercedes. And it is difficult when you have a man popping in as I had with David Coultard in my season “Hill recalled. “I fought Michael Schumacher for the championship in ’94, and I had David Coultard coming in and out to come and take points from me or Nigel Mansell. “And I kept telling the team, ‘How am I supposed to beat this?’ I’m the guy who stays here for the rest of the season to fight Michael Schumacher for a championship, and you keep throwing out wild cards like Nigel Mansell and David Coultard, who are still going to race, but it’s only for a short time.” “It doesn’t seem like a good strategic move to me, but it’s very disturbing.” The only way to deal with it? Prove that you are the best driver, said Hill. “If that person is getting attention because they are doing great things and delivering results, then the only answer to that is, well, just do better than them. “They know the business, but you may feel that you have been betrayed a little if they have employed someone who is better,” the 65-year-old grinned. In what is shaping up to be a title battle involving two drivers from the same team for the second consecutive season, Hill told the 19-year-old Italian to come out on top. “I think the favorite is Kimi because he had the equipment. Mercedes has been the most consistent and had a points advantage. And I think he’s still on a learning curve. So George had a mountain to climb to get back. I’m not saying he can’t do it, but I think from what I’ve seen, this guy is something else,” So we said Hill. (Fans can watch the British GP only on FanCode)