George Russell might have endured a heartbreakingly premature end to his fight for the Canadian Grand Prix win with Mercedes team-mate and championship rival Kimi Antonelli, but he remained very much on-message in praising the impact of Formula 1’s controversial new technical regulations.
Russell got off to a sluggish start from pole position but passed Antonelli for the lead at the final chicane at the end of lap five, where the cars came within inches of colliding as Antonelli locked a wheel while trying to defend the position. From there until Russell’s car halted with a power unit issue on lap 30, the team-mates stalked each other and swapped positions in a battle which regularly had the crowd on its feet.
