George Russell may be in for a reality check over the balance of power at Mercedes with team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
So far, the Brits have got along very well as they work together to help their struggling team. Both would have expected to be fighting for the title last year and this, but the Silver Arrows have, so far, been unable to provide their newest driver pairing with a competitive car.
In the attempt to simply maximise their points, Russell managed to out-score Hamilton in their first season together by 35 points. The gap between them narrowed last time out in Miami and now stands at 16 points, with the more experienced Brit holding the advantage.
Furthermore, Hamilton is without a race win since 2021 while Russell was the man who grabbed the team's only victory last year. But former racer David Coulthard believes there are mitigating factors which explain why the situation is as it is.
And he predicts Russell could soon get a rude awakening over what it's truly like to fight against Hamilton when in his pomp. The Scot said: "You have two drivers at different phases of their career. The mighty Lewis is still in there, it just won't really show itself until the Mercedes is as mighty as it once was.
"George is just sort of constantly there. This is the best car he's ever driven, so he's not caught up with the baggage of Lewis trying to figure it out, 'Am I re-signing for another year?', 'Can I win another world championship?' So there's a lot more on his plate.
"George is doing a brilliant job, [he is an] absolute asset for the team. That's not to say Lewis isn't doing a brilliant job, it just means that the car isn't talking to him right now and when it does, expect him to be showing George why he won seven world championships."
Meanwhile, both Brits will hope to be more competitive next time out at Imola. Mercedes plan to introduce upgrades to their W14 car which, if they have the desired effect, will allow them to be more competitive against their top four rivals Aston Martin and Ferrari.
But team principal Toto Wolff was keen to manage expectations and ruled out the prospect of suddenly being able to compete with the runaway Red Bulls. He told reporters: "I have never in my 15 years in F1 seen a silver bullet being introduced, where suddenly you unlock half a second of performance. So, I very much doubt that this is going to happen here."
