The title battle finally came alive - then Antonelli took control

The title battle finally came alive - then Antonelli took control The Canadian Grand Prix was the race in which the Formula 1 title battle finally came alive this year. It was also, however, the race in which it took a potentially decisive turn, putting a huge dent in George Russell's hopes of beating his 19-year-old Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli to the championship. Russell's retirement from the race came after 30 laps of frenetic battling between the pair which lit up the Circuit Gilles Vi

The Briton's retirement handed the win to Antonelli, his fourth in a row, and the Italian now has a massive 43-point lead. Doubtless there are many twists and turns to come in the remaining 17 races. Even so, that will take some recovering. Afterwards, Russell was stoic but understandably downbeat. "Right now it's his to lose," he said. It feels like the gods don't want me to be in this fight, when I look at the safety-car timing in Japan, breaking down in China Q3, fighting for pole, breaking down from the lead here today. "But, you know, the pressure's off. Go out, enjoy every single race. "I don't want to be stood here talking like that. It is, of course, frustrating, but I want to be in that fight. Hopefully, the luck will turn." Russell's references to luck refer to a series of situations where the dice have very much fallen in Antonelli's favour. Two separate technical problems in qualifying in Shanghai prevented him fighting for pole.

Key points

• The Briton's retirement handed the win to Antonelli, his fourth in a row, and the Italian now has a massive 43-point lead.
• Doubtless there are many twists and turns to come in the remaining 17 races.
• Even so, that will take some recovering.
• Afterwards, Russell was stoic but understandably downbeat.
• "Right now it's his to lose," he said.