George Russell's costly Canadian Grand Prix retirement, which knocked him 43 points back, showed he would have a Kimi Antonelli-sized problem to deal with this year. His fifth qualifying defeat to a high-flying Italian in Monaco further underlined that problem won't go away any time soon.
Russell had made a strong start to the 2026 Formula 1 season with a pole-to-flag victory in Melbourne, but a series of unfortunate events, from safety car timings to reliability problems, quickly shifted the momentum in the 2026 title race to Antonelli.
