George Russell won’t like it – but one driver can show him way forward after F1 title blow

To his credit, Antonelli did not rub salt into the wounds. A day on from his radio outburst in the face of contact between the pair in the sprint race, the Italian acknowledged his teammate’s bad luck and their captivating on-track conflict.

“It was very close and the (car failure) was a shame for him as it would have been a very cool battle,” he said. “But we will take it, another win.”

“It was nice to end the weekend well, not really the way I wanted to win, it was a close fight and I think it would have gone down right until the end.”

Much like Lando Norris’s crestfallen experience in the Zandvoort sand dunes after his late retirement at the Dutch Grand Prix last year, the snapshot of a gutted Russell watching his broken Mercedes car getting wheeled off the track could be one of the pictures of the season.

HEARTBREAK FOR GEORGE! 😢💔#F1#CanadianGPpic.twitter.com/vbnkl34w4X

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 24, 2026

Yet how the British driver responds, as we head back to the traditional set of European races this summer, will define his campaign. While Norris only had nine rounds remaining to overturn a 34-point lead, Russell still has 17 races left to gradually chip away at the deficit. What he cannot allow to happen, however, is for Antonelli to run over the hills and far away.

By the time he claimed his world championship in Abu Dhabi last year, Norris acknowledged that his brush with misfortune last year was the best thing that could have happened to him. Afterwards, relieved of pressure, he threw caution to the wind and reeled in McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri rapidly.

Russell, who has more time on his side, does not need to invoke such aggressions just yet. Yet there may well come a time when he will have to replicate his compatriot’s 2025 change of approach. In fact, who knows: Sunday’s desperate DNF could be the best thing to happen to Russell, if it reinvigorates his crumbling title charge.