George Russell told to ‘stop Antonelli in his tracks’ by Martin Brundle in psychological battle

George Russell has been told to go and “stop Antonelli in his tracks” at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix by Martin Brundle.

Having looked a clear favourite for the World Championship, Russell finds himself trailing his younger team-mate by 20 points and in need of a momentum-changing result in Montreal.

George Russell told to chase down Kimi Antonelli

After winning the opening race and proving pre-season predictions correct that Mercedes was a step ahead of its rivals, many thought Russell as the lead driver would walk to the title but Antonelli has become the surprise package of the season.

A hat-trick of wins has turned the young Italian from an outside bet to the title favourite and Russell’s best chance of his career to date for a title could be slipping away from him.

Ahead of the return of F1 at the Canadian Grand Prix, driver-turned-Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle said Russell needed to “stop Antonelli in his tracks.”

“There’s a long way to go. There’s 482 points available in this championship,” Brundle said.

“I don’t think the points deficit is that much of a problem for George Russell. For example, last year in Canada, Lando Norris had a clumsy accident with his team-mate Oscar Piastri in the McLaren, and that looked like he’d hurt his championship chances, then he goes on to become world champion.

“This is only our fifth Grand Prix of the season, and it’s going to be a challenging one. It’s the first Sprint in Canada. It’s going to be cold. It might be wet on race day. It’s going to be quite the challenge.

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“George needs to stop Antonelli in his tracks and get a few points back against him, but I think it’s more psychological than the mathematics.”

Mercedes will bring its first major upgrade package of the season this weekend and Brundle suggested teams will be jostling for supremacy all season.

“These are brand-new regulations, and it’s going to be the story of the season with teams flip-flopping around with incredible changes and improvement as they learn all about the biggest change we’ve had in the history of Formula 1,” he said.

“Mercedes are pretty confident. They’re not going to put stuff on the car that’s slower, so we’ll just see where they all stand. It’s a different track layout completely to Miami, lots of long straights and slow corners and chicanes.”

Mercedes leads both championships as it stands with Antonelli top of the Drivers’ and the team 70 points clear of Ferrari in the Constructors’.

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