Following a dramatic series of battles between Kimi Antonelli and George Russell at the Canadian Grand Prix, David Croft and Jamie Chadwick discuss on The F1 Show podcast how Mercedes should manage their drivers going forward.
Russell and Antonelli first made contact during Saturday’s Sprint in Montreal, with the latter expressing major disapproval at his team-mate’s tactics over team radio during the race.
While Antonelli was far calmer and more measured when speaking after the Sprint, which Russell won, the battle between the pair resumed after they started on the front row for Sunday’s full-length contest.
The pair exchanged the lead several times during a thrilling first half of the race and were still going at it when the contest was cut short by a power-unit failure for Russell, which allowed Antonelli to ease to victory and extend his Drivers’ Championship lead to 43 points.
With a devastated Russell left with a major challenge to haul in his team-mate, it is highly likely there will be more wheel-to-wheel action featuring both Mercedes before the season is out.
Silver Arrows boss Toto Wolff said after the race that the team would review the weekend with the drivers before deciding on an approach going forward, but hinted that some moments in Montreal went beyond what he is comfortable with.
Reflecting on the weekend’s action, Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft urged Wolff to trust his drivers, for now at least.
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David Croft and Jamie Chadwick look back on Antonelli’s epic battle with Mercedes team-mate Russell at the Canadian Grand Prix
“Mercedes have already got a fairly handsome lead in the Constructors’ Championship,” Croft said. “That will only grow I think. Monaco they might not have all their own way, but they’re still the class of the field.
“They don’t need an intervention yet. Didn’t need an intervention with McLaren last year.
“You are paying these drivers handsomely. You should trust them. Every employer should trust their employees to do their job because you’ve put your faith in them by giving them that job.
“So, stay away for the time being. Don’t intervene. Don’t change it. Just keep reminding them of what those rules of engagement are and give us fans a real treat.
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An unfortunate power-unit failure for Russell sees him out of the Canadian Grand Prix
“I’m not here to give Toto Wolff advice, but if I was, it’d be, ‘shh’, for the time being. And then when they do take themselves out, if they take themselves out, that’s when you can intervene as a team.
“But I don’t think anything we’ve seen at the weekend is going to spill over into the Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg type of rivalry. I think there’s a very healthy respect. But we’ll see what skulduggery and tricks might get played in the future.”
Chadwick: A few laps away from ending in tears
Sunday’s battle between the Mercedes drivers featured several thrilling moments, with Antonelli once more complaining that Russell was being over-aggressive with his defensive tactics.
Shortly before Russell’s engine failure, both drivers had been warned over the radio to keep the battle “tidy”, or that team orders might be imposed.
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Toto Wolff says he ‘half enjoyed’ watching the Mercedes drivers battle in a bittersweet race where one won and the other suffered retirement
Sky Sports F1 pundit and three-time W Series champion Chadwick said: “They were a few laps away from that ending in tears, so I don’t know if George’s engine failure came at a good time for Mercedes in terms of intra-team politics!
“In terms of the battle we saw on track on Sunday, I think we were almost expecting that given what we saw in the Sprint. It just seems like with the new regulations, the way that they can follow closely and can’t really get away from each other, means they’re constantly fighting each other.
“I have not seen racing like that for the lead of the race in a long time.”
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Russell talks through his painful race exit from the Canadian Grand Prix
Russell backed up his status as the clear pre-season title favourite by winning the first race of the year in Australia, but Antonelli has since reeled off four successive victories to put his team-mate under enormous pressure.
Chadwick added: “I think the hot-headedness of Kimi is what’s giving him that tenth of a second, especially when he was behind George and chasing him.
“You could see he had the bit between his teeth. He had that extra hunger, extra motivation to try and get on par with his team-mate.
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Antonelli reflects on a tough but confident drive after winning the Canadian GP for Mercedes
“And I think that tenth of a second, or that hunger has come from the fact that he came off the back of winning three races and his confidence has just grown.
“He keeps saying he’s not thinking about the championship, but he now has a big advantage. He’s thinking of it as, ‘I don’t care I’ve got an experienced team-mate, I have every right to be ahead of you today’. And that’s how he’s driving.”
Next up is the start of Formula 1’s European summer swing, with the Monaco Grand Prix the first of six races in eight weeks. Watch live on Sky Sports F1 from June 5-7. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
