Martin Brundle reviews the recent Canadian GP. According to the Englishman, Kimi Antonelli – the eventual race winner – briefly lost control of his emotions during the sprint, but the young Mercedes driver has the advantage of being surrounded by a strong safety net. He particularly points to Toto Wolff and race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington, who kept him in check at the right moment.
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The sprint of the Mercedes duo at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve produced the most talked-about moments of the weekend. Russell started from pole position with Antonelli right behind him. Although the Italian was visibly faster, he found no way to pass his teammate cleanly. On lap six, he tried the outside at turn one, where slight contact occurred and Russell forced him off the track. Antonelli returned to the track but was visibly frustrated and called the move ‘reckless’ over the radio.
In the same lap, things went wrong again for the young driver, allowing Lando Norris to take advantage and move up to second place. Antonelli eventually finished third, 1.8 seconds behind Russell. Brundle was mostly understanding of the Brit’s race action but was more critical of Antonelli’s reaction. “George (Russell, ed.) had the situation a bit better under control and was able to defend his position on the track,” he responded in his report for Sky Sports. “But Kimi (Antonelli, ed.) seemed a bit faster — something we would see again later in the race. The inevitable happened when Antonelli tried to overtake on the outside. He was very close, but ultimately any driver fighting for a win, let alone a championship, would have pushed him off the track. Any of us would have done the same.”
Antonelli went too far
Brundle was less lenient about the Italian’s emotional outburst. He stated that Antonelli ‘briefly went too far’ during the sprint, causing even team boss Toto Wolff to intervene via radio. Wolff immediately called on his driver to focus on driving instead of expressing frustration over the radio. After the checkered flag, he explained again that such matters are discussed behind closed doors. According to Brundle, this shows how important the guidance within Mercedes is.
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“Kimi is lucky that at moments like these he can rely on the wisdom of Bono and Toto; the rest of us would have immediately come with accusations,” Brundle explained. In the main race, Antonelli had the chance to redeem himself. He started in P2, behind his teammate, and put him under pressure for thirty laps. Russell eventually retired, after which the young Italian easily took the race win. It marked his fourth consecutive victory and a 43-point lead in the championship over Russell.
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