Canadian GP: George Russell needs to stop Kimi Antonelli in his tracks for 'psychological' gain says Martin Brundle

Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle believes George Russell needs to beat Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix to make a "psychological" gain.

Antonelli has won the last three Formula 1 races to take a 20-point lead over Russell in the Drivers' Championship - a surprise to many given Russell was the big pre-season favourite for the title.

Russell particularly struggled last time out in Miami but put it down to the low-grip track surface which he does not enjoy, and he's confident of bouncing back in Montreal having won last year's Canadian Grand Prix.

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"There's a long way to go. There's 482 points available in this championship," Brundle told Sky Sports News.

"I don't think the points deficit is that much of a problem for George Russell. For example, last year in Canada, Lando Norris had a clumsy accident with his team-mate Oscar Piastri in the McLaren, and that looked like he'd hurt his championship chances, then he goes on to become world champion.

"This is only our fifth Grand Prix of the season, and it's going to be a challenging one. It's the first Sprint in Canada. It's going to be cold. It might be wet on race day. It's going to be quite the challenge.

"George needs to stop Antonelli in his tracks and get a few points back against him, but I think it's more psychological than the mathematics."

Antonelli became the youngest Grand Prix pole-sitter earlier this year and is the youngest driver to lead the championship at 19 years old.

Victory for Antonelli this Sunday would make him the first driver to win their first four Grands Prix consecutively and Brundle has been impressed by the Italian.

"He's been mighty, his speed, his consistency. He kept his head under pressure in Miami," he said.

"George Russell struggles in Miami, but is very strong in Canada, so Kimi will have a bigger fight on his hands across the garage and a lot of teams are bringing upgrades. But, Kimi's raw pace and consistency has been super impressive."

Brundle on development race and Montreal rain prospect

Mercedes are bringing a significant upgrade package to the Canadian Grand Prix in the hope it extends their advantage over the field, but McLaren are also expected to have new parts on the car too.

The early stages of new technical regulations in Formula 1 always sees a big development race and Brundle says Mercedes' rivals "won't stand still".

"These are brand-new regulations, and it's going to be the story of the season with teams flip-flopping around with incredible changes and improvement as they learn all about the biggest change we've had in the history of Formula 1," he said.

"Mercedes are pretty confident. They're not going to put stuff on the car that's slower, so we'll just see where they all stand. It's a different track layout completely to Miami, lots of long straights and slow corners and chicanes."

There is rain on the forecast again this weekend with Sunday's race currently set to see showers. There is yet to be a wet competitive session this season and the new cars, with their harsh acceleration due to the high electrical output, would really test the drivers according to Brundle.

He said: "The drivers are all a little bit scared of just what these cars are going to be like in the rain. They have got so much power and less downforce, less grip, and they don't know yet.

"Nobody really had that opportunity to push them in a competitive situation, so we could see, could see some drama. Only one in the last eight Grands Prix in Montreal have gone without the Safety Car of some kind because if you crash, you remain on the race track, effectively. It's a pretty challenging layout in that respect, old school, and we love it."

Formula 1 heads to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and another Sprint weekend. Watch live on Sky Sports F1 from this Friday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime

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