George Russell starts title mind games with Kimi Antonelli: ‘It’s his to lose’

George Russell has said the pressure is all on Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli following the Briton’s retirement in Canada, adding the title is “his to lose”.

Russell was leading the race in Montreal from pole position and fending off a stiff challenge from Antonelli when he suffered a battery failure that triggered a total power unit shutdown on lap 30. Antonelli went on to win his fourth successive race and open up a 43-point lead in the drivers’ championship.

The 28-year-old was emotional in the immediate aftermath of the race. He later apologised for throwing his headrest cover on to the track in a fit of rage, an act for which he was handed a suspended €5,000 (£3,700) fine.

But he now feels that a weight has been lifted from his shoulders. “I don’t think I’ve got anything to lose, really,” Russell said before this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. “If I look at it from my competitor’s position, you’re kind of in a position now that you’ve got such a buffer, it feels like you can only keep it or you can only lose it.

“It’s his to lose. My mindset is to enjoy every single race, try to win every single race, the same as I’ve done this whole season. I’m going to fight the same, I’m not going to change my mentality at all, nor am I going to let this put any more pressure on to me.”

Monaco is the sixth race of what is now a 22-race season following the cancellations in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, although one or both of those races could still be reintroduced.

Russell said that was easily long enough to “turn the tide”, even if luck continued to conspire against him.

“I’ve never really believed in someone being lucky or unlucky,” he said. “I think these things over the course of a season balance themselves out, and even if they don’t balance themselves out over a 24-race championship, if you’re going to come out on top, you should be able to turn the tide.

“I don’t feel like I need to get every single result possible, because I think the season’s long enough that over the course of the season it will swing if you’re the guy who’s on top, so I just need to continue being the guy who’s coming out on top, even if he’s the one at the moment who’s getting the results.”

Russell said he spent his time between races at a wedding, where he snuck off to watch the Arsenal vs Paris St-Germain Champions League final. Then he headed to Brackley to use the simulator to prepare for Monaco, before doing some GT2 driving at Silverstone on a corporate day.

Asked whether Max Verstappen’s GT3 exploits had inspired him to do more sports car racing, he conceded that it was nice to get away from F1 for a bit and do some “enjoyable” racing without any pressure.

“I really enjoy it, I’ve been looking to do some days this year, just to get a bit of enjoyment in between the races,” Russell said.

“It doesn’t make you go faster in a Formula One car, and it’s totally different, just like a tennis player playing padel. But if you can’t play tennis between your tournaments, padel is the next best thing. And it’s just enjoyable. It’s good fun just to take a race car around a track and not... on that day, on Tuesday, there was no pressure, there was no competition. I was just going to enjoy the day.

“You’re not often in a position just to be able to enjoy what you do, because so many people would die just to get an opportunity to race a race car, but because we’re always in a competitive mindset, you enjoy it when you cross the line in P1. I’ve got another day lined up for the end of summer break.”

[Source: Daily Telegraph]