George Russell has shared his thoughts on the close fight with team mate Kimi Antonelli after winning the Sprint at the Canadian Grand Prix, with the Briton conceding that he was “glad we’re both standing here” following the tense scrap.
After making a good start from pole position, Russell held the lead as the 100km dash got underway in Montreal – but soon faced a challenge from Antonelli, leading to the pair making contact.Antonelli later cut across the grass following another attempt to overtake Russell, resulting in the Italian sharing some angry messages over the team radio as he lost a position in the process to McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Despite going on to face pressure from Norris in the fight for the lead, Russell held onto his position to take victory and subsequently take two points out of his team mate’s advantage in the Drivers’ Championship.
Asked afterwards about how he absorbed that pressure through the Sprint – as well as being quizzed on the battle with Antonelli – the 28-year-old responded: “It was a cool race. I was just talking with Lando, it was definitely very difficult to get a gap around here.“It felt quite easy to follow, the slipstream was quite powerful with the overtake mode and then it was a good battle with Kimi. Glad we’re both standing here after the race.”
The win marks Russell’s return to the top step following a streak of victories for Antonelli across the last three rounds, but the Mercedes driver insisted that he was never worried about the situation.
“I was never really concerned, to be honest,” said Russell. “I know Miami is a bit of a bogey track for me and of course there’s been this huge break in the calendar.
“Lots of people with a lot of things to say, but ultimately I just wanted to get back racing and it feels like the season is restarting now with six races in eight weeks. I’m just looking forward to getting into that groove. It’s great to be back in Montreal, and amazing fans as always.”
