George Russell won a thrilling Sprint at the Canadian Grand Prix after an intense battle against Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, but was the racing entirely fair?
What happened?
At the start of lap six, Antonelli attacked Russell around the outside into Turn 1 but the pair made light contact at the exit of the corner and into Turn 2.
Antonelli went across the grass at Turn 2 as Russell ducked underneath to retain the lead. Later on in the lap at the Turn 8-9 chicane, Antonelli went deep when trying to overtake Russell and cut the grass again, this time losing out to Lando Norris as he dropped to third.
On the Turn 1 incident, Antonelli said on the radio: “That was very naughty! That should be a penalty. I was alongside the mirror!”
Antonelli’s engineer Peter Bonnington tried to calm down a furious Antonelli but the Italian added: “I don’t care, he pushed me off!”
In response, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: “Kimi, concentrate on the driving, please, not on the radio moaning.”
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Kimi Antonelli and George Russell clash twice as they go wheel-to-wheel at the Canadian Grand Prix Sprint
Russell went on to take the Sprint win with Antonelli unable to overtake Norris, despite getting briefly alongside into Turn 1 again on the last lap.
Antonelli continued to express his frustration on the radio on the cooldown lap by saying, “if we need to race like this, then good to know!”
Wolff responded: “Kimi now is not the time to talk about this. We talk about this internally and not on the radio, OK?”
Russell and Antonelli shook hands briefly following the Sprint but there was clear tension in parc ferme post-race.
What did the drivers say afterwards?
George Russell:
“It was a good hard battle.
“Obviously I defended into Turn 1 and you never get overtaken around the outside of that corner, so I knew it was kind of pretty safe, but kudos to Kimi for giving it a go, and I respect that, and obviously, came out unscathed.
“Into Turn 8, this track is very dirty as well offline, we’ve seen it all weekend, so I was quite nervous to defend too tightly into Turn 8 because I knew that there was a chance of locking up if I went there, and that was about it.
“I’m glad that we’re both sat here now. It could have been something different, but it wasn’t and that’s how racing should be.
“From my side, as kids in karting, we know overtaking on the outside, there’s a certain element of risk that comes with that, and they’re amazing overtakes when they come off, but the chances are quite slim.
“There’s only one direction I was going, and I was going to close the line because that’s within my right to do so. Respect to him for giving it a go. Emotions are always high for all of us in the cockpit, but I’m sure we’ll both talk about it after.”
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George Russell wins thrilling Sprint race as final-lap drama sees Antonelli run off again and confront Toto over team radio
Kimi Antonelli:
“I was quite well alongside, and there was definitely contact, so I need to recheck that.
“I think if you’re well alongside, you can overtake pretty much anywhere. Obviously, there are corners that are more difficult. I don’t think there’s never been an overtake run outside Turn 1.
“I agree that he was defending his position, so just was hard racing. Of course, we’re both lucky not to crash, but, at the end of the day, it was a very fun race.”
Antonelli on whether his approach will change going forward:
“Probably we just need a bit of clarity, then once it’s clear, then it’s all going to be fine.
“I think definitely I need to probably ask again, but the main thing for the team is that there’s no contact, that we don’t crash into each other, which was very close. I think that’s the most important [thing] for the team.”
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George Russell and Kimi Antonelli weigh in on their Mercedes bust-up during the Sprint Ract at the Canadian Grand Prix!
Wolff: It was great cinema!
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff speaking to Sky Sports F1:
“It was great cinema!
“Tough fighting, not only between our two but also with Lando [Norris]. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it.
“I really enjoy these moments as they allow us to learn and say, ‘how are we handling these things in the future?’
“You don’t want to lose a race, you don’t want to crash into each other and sometimes it needs a little moment to remind us of our objectives.
“This is not particularly against one or the other but there is a framework we want to establish and I would rather have it in a Sprint race, where it is not about a lot of points, than the main race.”
Wolff on Antonelli’s outbursts on the radio:
“We don’t want to start race five with headlines like ‘Star Wars’ or ‘this is escalating’ as it’s not. It’s emotion and he is a young driver.
“George would probably have done the same, so we will see how we handle it.”
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At the SkyPad, Karun Chandhok analysed the wheel-to-wheel battle between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, which ended with Antonelli coming off track during the Canada Sprint
What did the Sky Sports F1 pundits make of the incident?
Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle:
“You can see that George Russell’s car hits the inside kerb and bounces to the right-hand side.
“The problem with writing regulations is that it is difficult to cover everything on different tracks.
“Something that was added this year is that the driver on the inside can’t just disappear or suddenly change by 30 or 40 degrees.
“I think if you stick your car to the outside like that, you have to expect to be squeezed. That is the racing view.
“I wouldn’t give George Russell a penalty.”
Sky Sports F1’s Jamie Chadwick:
“It was inevitable it was going to happen at some point. It was spicy.
“In this moment, Kimi got the run into Turn 1 and was coming with a lot of speed on the outside line.
“To be fair to George, I think that caught him out a little bit.
“If it wasn’t a team-mate, I don’t think we would say too much about it.”
Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok:
“The stewards have to look at whether George forced Kimi off track.
“I think if it was two different teams, Mercedes would be on the radio saying Kimi was forced off.
“Kimi has a reason to be upset.”
Sky Sports F1’s Canadian GP schedule
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A look back at the wildest moments caught on the onboard camera at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Sunday May 24
3.40pm: F1 Academy Race 3
5pm: F2 Feature Race
7.30pm: Canadian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
9pm: THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX*
11am: Canadian GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
12am: Ted’s Notebook*
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 is in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and another Sprint weekend. Watch live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s race at 9pm. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
