“He needs to back up”: How Mercedes managed Russell and Antonelli’s Canadian GP fight

George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli fought tooth and nail for the lead of the Canadian Grand Prix.

But just as Mercedes were threatening to call off the fight between the pair, a battery fault struck Russell’s car and ended his race.

They came close to colliding on more than one occasion. At one point Mercedes ordered the pair to swap places, an instruction neither driver appeared to fully agree with.

Afterwards Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted they only “half-enjoyed” the battle as they feared their drivers might make contact. But if the two drivers remain this close for the rest of the season there will be many more tests to come of Mercedes’ driver management.

Radio from Russell and Antonelli’s Canadian GP scrap

“Just want to break away from the Ferrari”
“Strange noise”
“Kimi is 2% rearwards on b-bal”
“Can you help me with strats?”
“Has he got Overtake Mode?”
“He needs to back up a bit”
“If we can’t keep it tidy we’ll stop you racing”
“There’s a double yellow where George has stopped”

“Just want to break away from the Ferrari”

Russell lost his advantage from pole position to Antonelli at the start. But both the slick-shod Mercedes drivers were immediately passed by Lando Norris, who started from third place on a set of intermediates.

The McLaren driver’s lead proved short-lived, however, as he pitted for slicks on the second lap. The Mercedes pair took up the lead; the team’s priority at this stage was extending their lead over Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari, which initially held third place.

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“Strange noise”

Russell told the team to put a marker in his data to remind them to discuss an unusual noise he heard on lap 10.

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“Kimi is 2% rearwards on b-bal”

Both Mercedes drivers struggled with brake locking at turn 10, particularly when they took turns leading the race. Russell, who spent longer in the lead, had the most lock-ups. His race engineer Marcus Dudley advised him to try using Antonelli’s more rearward brake bias at one point.

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“Can you help me with strats?”

Even with the benefit of Overtake Mode, Antonelli found it difficult to pass Russell as the pair used similar energy deployment strategies (‘strats’). He asked race engineer Peter Bonnington for recommendations.

However he soon got ahead of his team mate after Russell made another mistake at turn 10.

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“Has he got Overtake Mode?”

The Mercedes pair caught Norris, who was now a backmarker, but running similar lap times to theirs. Antonelli chose his moment to lap the McLaren carefully, ensuring he got close enough to gain the benefit of using Overtake Mode before passing, to improve his chances of keeping Russell behind.

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“He needs to back up a bit”

When Antonelli went wide and off-track at turn 13, Russell attacked again. The pair went side-by-side into turn 13 but both braked too late and cut the corner.

Antonelli rejoined the track ahead of his team mate. Although Russell clearly felt Antonelli gained an advantage, he appeared to believe his team mate only needed to reduce the gap between them, rather than let him past. He told Mercedes only that Antonelli “needs to back up a bit” and did not demand his team mate let him past.

The Mercedes pit wall thought differently, as Bonnington’s instruction to Antonelli showed. They thought he would get a penalty if he didn’t let Russell through, so ordered them to swap positions.

Russell clearly felt Antonelli did this in a way which was tactically advantageous to him. Team principal Toto Wolff began to interject on the radio but then seemingly thought better of it. However Mercedes were about to intervene.

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“If we can’t keep it tidy we’ll stop you racing”

Mercedes warned both drivers to reduce the risks they were taking with each other. Each driver received a similar message around the same time.

They also told the pair they were “under investigation”. In fact, the stewards had noted the incident where both left the track at turn 13, but subsequently decided no investigation was necessary.

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“There’s a double yellow where George has stopped”

But soon afterwards the fight for the lead was over. A battery problem on Russell’s car spelled an end to his hopes of taking his first grand prix victory since Australia.

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2026 Canadian Grand Prix

• “He needs to back up”: How Mercedes managed Russell and Antonelli’s Canadian GP fight
• ‘It doesn’t feel like what motorsport should be’: Podium trio still unhappy with F1’s power units
• Hamilton grateful Ferrari “moved mountains” for him after scoring his best result for team
• Unseen pit exit crash during VSC was “scary moment” – Colapinto
• Was McLaren’s bizarre Canadian GP strategy gamble ever likely to work?

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