Antonelli claims Montreal victory and extends championship lead
After gaining 25 points on the Briton, he said: “Yeah, but to be fair, I’m not thinking about championship. I’m just focusing on race by race. I think it’s still very early to talk about that. And of course, now I have this gap but that doesn’t mean that I can relax and just take it easier. Instead, I need to keep levelling up and keep raising the bar because it’s not going to be easy and competitors are getting closer, and also George is super quick. So definitely I’m just going to try to focus on myself and enjoy the driving and trying to really drive as fast as possible.”
The Ferrari driver commented: “Yeah, had so much fun out there all weekend. Every single lap, I felt like we started on the right foot, came with the right attitude and the car really generally felt great. And so, to come to Montreal, a track that I do love, and get to enjoy a Sprint weekend here, which is the first that we’ve had [here], was awesome. And this is my first second place with the team. It’s something I’ve been working so hard, I can’t even begin to explain how deep I’ve had to dig to be able to get to this point, and the work and moving mountains in the background to enable this sort of performance. But I’m really grateful to the team for continuing to hold me up high and support me weekend in, weekend out. And it’s a really lovely feeling to see them so happy, because they truly deserve it with all the hard work they put in.”
Photo: Race Pictures
Russell fumes after costly DNF in Montreal
On the other hand, Russell had a Sunday to forget at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The Mercedes driver had a hard-fought battle with his teammate in Canada until his car suddenly stopped on track. He said: “I mean, just everything turned off all of a sudden, just went into the corner, the engine stops. No electronics, no power, a bit lost for words, to be honest right now. I’m proud of my weekend. Pole in the sprint, won the sprint. Pole in qualifying. I was leading when I stopped, I had a good battle with Kimi. From my side, I don’t feel like there was anything more I could have done this weekend, so I will leave satisfied. Of course, I’m pretty damn frustrated with what’s happened, but what more can I do?”