George Russell refuses title panic as Mercedes weakness comes under spotlight

George Russell said the Canadian Grand Prix will be “just another race for me” despite it being set against the backdrop of him trailing in the title race.

Russell had been the favourite for the championship after Mercedes’s superiority was confirmed by a hat-trick of wins has put Kimi Antonelli into the lead.

George Russell reacts to Kimi Antonelli title lead

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust

While the season is still relatively young, Canada feels like an important race for Russell and a chance to swing the championship momentum back his way.

He is unlikely to end the weekend as the leader, but he could cut into the 20-point gap to Antonelli.

The Briton qualified P1 for Saturday’s Sprint, and will line up on the grid ahead of his teammate.

When asked if he felt any sense of heightened pressure going into the weekend, he said it was the same as any other race.

“It’s just another race for me,” he said. “It’s just another race and it’s not even in my mind, the championship. I know what I’m capable of, I know the speed I’ve got.

“Obviously, Miami was a bad weekend. It was a tough weekend for me there last year and I went to Montreal and had a great weekend.

“Doesn’t mean this year is going to be the same, but I just need to focus on myself, go through my processes as I did in Melbourne, as I did in China, and control what I can control. So, there’s really no need to panic at all.

“And as we said, we’re four races down, 18 at least to go. And I actually look back on my F2 season, which is obviously the last time I fought for a championship, and I was P6 after four races in F2 and about 35 points down. So, at this point it means nothing.”

More news from Montreal on PlanetF1.com

Lewis Hamilton tells critics ‘get used to it’ as F1 retirement decision made

‘Next’ Max Verstappen challenge proposed as ‘high risk’ comments resurface

Mercedes has brought its first major upgrade package of the season to the car this weekend and Russell suggested starts was a main area of focus.

“Well, obviously the starts are a big focus for us because that’s clearly our biggest weak point,” he said. “We know short term is going to be difficult to make major gains, and we’re obviously trying as hard as we can to solve it short term.

“But there’s also some medium-term items that we need to make changes to and continue to improve. And, of course, race starts, we don’t get to practice very often. You can’t practice it on the simulator really. Some races you cannot even practice in free practice the race starts. So, we’ll keep trying our best to improve.”

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read next: FIA cuts Canada qualifying energy limit to new season-low in Montreal