Canadian Grand Prix: Victory for Antonelli, nightmare for Russell

The Canadian Grand Prix offered a cruel twist of fate for George Russell. Having secured pole positions in both the Sprint and Feature Races, the Briton seemed poised to clinch his second victory of the season. But while leading the race ahead of his teammate Kimi Antonelli, a mechanical failure dashed his hopes of victory.

The driver was extremely frustrated at the time of his retirement. Mercedes Benz struggled to hide his disappointment after what had been a solid weekend so far. To be leading a race and then suffer an engine failure… When you fight so hard, I'm speechless. I'm obviously satisfied with my performance. I took both pole positions, I was able to lead the race and have a great battle with Kimi, but the ending is frustrating. "That's regrettable," the British driver lamented.

READ ALSO > Canadian GP: Kimi Antonelli wins after George Russell's retirement

Before his retirement, the two Mercedes drivers had put on a superb, intense but clean battle for the lead. A fight that the Briton seemed to have enjoyed. The battle with Kimi was truly awesome, I loved it. That's what racing should be. We had the potential to fight hard, but it was clean. I really enjoyed it. " explains the man who won in Melbourne during the first Grand Prix of the season.

Toto wolff He too displayed very mixed feelings. Initially disappointed, the head of the Mercedes-Benz company was keen to support his British driver after the retirement. I apologized to George. It was a battery issue. We lost all the electricity in the car, and he was in the lead at that point. It's always difficult for a driver to experience that when you're in a good position. For him, it was important to win today. " admits the Austrian.

Antonelli widens the gap on Russell

But Toto Wolff could also express his satisfaction, as Mercedes left Montreal with an important victory thanks to Antonelli, the current championship leader. The Mercedes boss F1 He also made sure to praise his young Italian driver after his victory. Kimi deserved it today. He was very good all weekend. The race he and George had together was spectacular. Twice I was ready to press the button to open the radio and tell them it was too much. We were losing a lot of time on Verstappen at this moment " acknowledges Toto Wolff.

Before the next race on the streets of the Principality of Monaco, Mercedes leaves Canada with both its drivers leading the championship and comfortably sits atop the constructors' championship with 194 points, compared to 117 for its closest rival. Classic Ferrari for saleVictorious for the fourth time this season, greatly helped by George Russell's retirement, Antonelli now has a considerable lead of 43 points over his British teammate.

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