George Russell and Kimi Antonelli delivered their first correct wheel-to-wheel battles over the Method 1 Canadian Grand Prix weekend, beginning with a fraught dash race battle which left Antonelli pissed off by Russell’s stout defending and prompted talks to make clear the group’s guidelines of engagement.
Their battle resumed on Sunday within the grand prix till Russell disappeared on lap 30 with engine hassle. However earlier than that time Mercedes had already cautioned its drivers to calm issues down after they traded a glancing blow on lap 24 within the last chicane, and Antonelli escaped by the runoff space.
The intra-team racing left Mercedes and Toto Wolff in two minds. On the one hand, the group trusts its drivers and is eager to allow them to race, particularly at this early stage of the 2026 title battle. However, alternatively, it additionally desires to keep away from a repeat of the bitter rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in 2014-16 and it’s eager to get forward of any angst earlier than issues spiral uncontrolled.
That is why Wolff conceded that there might be occasions when Mercedes could also be compelled to “flip it down a notch”, as a number of the battles between Russell and Antonelli had been already a bit too shut for consolation.
“It is all the time simpler on the finish now to say: ‘Properly, that was nice for the group and nice for the game and did not all of us take pleasure in watching the battling,” Wolff mused. “And that’s true to a level, however there may be one other aspect which we have to have a look at, that it was shut just a few occasions. Kimi tucking again in and locking the tyres may have resulted in a double DNF and never due to over-aggressive driving with one another, just by a mistake. And the identical by the final chicane state of affairs.
“It is necessary to analyse the race and focus on with the drivers whether or not they felt it was a bit shut and if that’s the case, how can we keep away from these conditions the place we deem it somewhat bit too shut. We had the margin right now after which it is simple to just accept that they’re preventing to a sure diploma, however clearly that is not all the time going to be the case.
George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photograph by: Mark Thompson / Getty Photos
“So, as a lot as we glance very sportsmanlike right now by permitting it, there might be a state of affairs the place we’d perhaps flip it down a notch.”
Russell additionally drew parallels between his fights with Antonelli and the Hamilton-Rosberg battle, however in a optimistic sense as a result of he says he hasn’t seen that form of preventing between team-mates since then.
“Yeah, I imply, I liked it,” Russell stated. “I believed it was nice. I’ve not had a battle like this in years. I have never seen a battle like this most likely since Lewis and Nico in Bahrain 2014. And these new vehicles will let you try this.”
Russell felt he and Antonelli had their battling beneath management after discussing the dash race occasions inside the group. “We all know how we have to race,” the Briton added. “I believe we each had it beneath management and it was nice.”
Antonelli admitted the battle was “on the sting” at occasions however equally noticed no bones in Russell’s sturdy defence within the grand prix.
“It was a tricky combat. I believe a few occasions was perhaps somewhat bit on the sting, however we had been going at one another,” he added, after taking a 43-point lead on Russell within the championship along with his fourth consecutive grand prix win.
“We had been each pushing and we each needed to win. And it was, I believe, for everybody watching, fairly entertaining. It was a whole lot of enjoyable as a result of we had been each pushing on the restrict and going for it.”
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