George Russell reveals he is taking a one-at-a-time mentality to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and is not getting swept up with Kimi Antonelli’s form for Mercedes as the Brit looks to close a 20-point deficit at the 2026 Canadian GP.
The 28-year-old was the pre-season favourite heading into the new Formula 1 season as the Silver Arrows debuted a very impressive engine throughout testing in Bahrain, confirming what many anticipated ahead of the new regulations: they are the team to beat.
He then appeared to confirm the suspicions from the bookmakers that he was the favourite for the title with a dominant pole position and commanding victory at the Australian GP to kick off the campaign in March.
A Sprint Pole and Sprint Race win then followed in China, but since he crossed the line before anyone else in the Sprint at the Shanghai International Circuit, it has all gone very wrong, very quickly for the six-time Grand Prix winner.
A brief technical issue opened the door to Antonelli to claim pole for the Chinese GP as Russell had to settle for second on the grid. As was expected when the lights went out, the Ferrari cars immediately danced passed the Mercedes pair and second became fourth.
Antonelli sharply found himself back in the lead by passing Lewis Hamilton and from that point on, never looked in serious doubt for the victory. His older teammate, meanwhile, spent a large portion of the race watching the Ferrari cars squabble over the podium places.
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When he finally got through into second, it was too late for him to stop his teen colleague from winning – and a similar script would then follow at the Japanese GP at the Suzuka International Circuit as he battled set-up issues.
Russell worked his way into second behind Oscar Piastri’s McLaren as race starts remain the Achilles heel of Mercedes, but once Antonelli moved into third, the 19-year-old then proved to be far quicker and went on to win courtesy of a well-timed safety car.
Most recently in Miami at the start of May, the British racer then struggled with track conditions throughout the weekend and had one of the worst showings of his career since being promoted from Williams to Mercedes.
He eventually finished the race over 40 seconds behind Antonelli, who fended off the defending world champion Lando Norris to take the victory by three seconds and extended his lead in the standings to 20 points.
A snowball effect appears to be forming and the championship could start to run away from Russell if he doesn’t arrest Antonelli’s momentum soon, but ahead of the Canadian GP he reveals that his mentality is not focused on the title battle as of yet.
“It’s just another race for me,” Russell told media, including Total-Motorsport.com. “It’s just another race, and it’s not even on my mind, the championship. I know what I’m capable of. I know the speed I’ve got.”
Russell continued: “There’s really no need to panic at all. As we said, we’re four races down, 18 at least to go.
“I actually look back on my F2 season, which was obviously the last time I fought for a championship. I was P6 after four races in F2 and about 35 points down. At this point, it means nothing.”
Russell points to 2025 Canadian GP as a confidence booster
Russell can arrive to the Canadian GP with a bit of cautious optimism, having taken pole position at the 2024 and 2025 editions of the 70-lap race in the heart of Montreal – pipping Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on both occasions.
The Kings Lynn-born racer finished third at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in the former and went two better in the latter, claiming his first victory in North America at the 54th running of the Canadian GP with a controlled drive ahead of Verstappen.
Whilst the track also appears to suit Antonelli on the basis of the Italian securing his first podium in Quebec, it is a location Russell can attack with confidence as he bids to close to the gap in the standings and return to winning ways, and he knows it.
“Obviously, Miami was a bad weekend,” Russell added. “It was a tough weekend for me there last year, and I went to Montreal and had a great weekend.
“It doesn’t mean this year is going to be the same, but I just need to focus on myself, go through my processes, as I did in Melbourne, as I did in China, and control what I can control.”
