George Russell says he did nothing wrong in a hard-fought Canadian Grand Prix sprint battle with Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli after the Italian questioned the Briton’s defending.<\/p>\n
Russell’s second sprint victory of the season, after China, cut championship leader Antonelli’s advantage to 18 points, with the 19-year-old Italian frustrated after the Mercedes pair fought for the lead in Montreal.<\/p>\n
The pair went wheel-to-wheel on lap six of the 23-lap sprint at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with contact at turn one before Antonelli later locked up at turn eight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I need to check it as well,” Russell told reporters. “From my side, I didn’t think I did anything wrong and it wasn’t investigated. I guess race directors and stewards thought the same.<\/p>\n
“You never get overtaken around the outside of that corner,” he added, saying that Antonelli’s drive was risky. “Kudos to Kimi for giving it a go \u2026 I respect that.”<\/p>\n
The Briton later told Sky Sports he was focused on qualifying and did not see the incident as a major issue.<\/p>\n
“You race each other hard, but fair, and from my side, there’s never ill intentions towards anything. But on the same note, I’m not just going to wave somebody by. And we’re both fighting for our championship.”<\/p>\n
Over the radio after the incident, Antonelli said Russell was “very naughty”. Team boss Toto Wolff responded several times until he called for the matter to be discussed internally.<\/p>\n
When asked about this, Antonelli told reporters he wanted to review the battle before drawing firm conclusions.<\/p>\n
“I was quite well alongside, and there was definitely contact, so I need to recheck that.”<\/p>\n
The Italian said that if a driver was well alongside, overtaking was possible “pretty much anywhere”, while accepting Russell had been defending his position.<\/p>\n
He added the team would clarify the situation after reviewing the race. “The main thing for the team is that there was no contact, that we don’t crash into each other.”<\/p>\n
Russell had been fastest off the mark at the start, with Antonelli close behind, with only 17 cars lining up and five in the pit lane, including Canadian Lance Stroll, whose Aston Martin was wheeled off the grid with a front suspension problem.<\/p>\n