By Angelica Medina
MONTREAL, May 21 (Reuters) – George Russell said there was no need to panic ahead of a Canadian Grand Prix weekend that could see championship-leading Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli take his fourth Formula One win in a row.
Russell, 20 points off the championship lead, arrives at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with Mercedes bringing their first major upgrade of the season, after McLaren and Ferrari introduced developments in Miami.
“It’s just another race for me, and it’s not even on my mind — the championship,” Russell told reporters on Thursday. “There’s no need to panic at all. As we said we’re four races down, 18 at least to go.”
“Our numbers look pretty promising,” he added of the upgrade. “But until we drive it on track, there’s always going to be a few unknowns.”
The Briton said race launches remained Mercedes’ clearest weakness, although improvements were unlikely to come immediately.
“The starts are a big focus for us because that’s clearly our biggest weak point,” he said. “We know short term it’s going to be difficult to make major gains.”
Mercedes also expects Montreal to offer a stronger platform than Miami, with Russell pointing to the team’s recent form at the circuit and the flow of the layout.
“The last two years this track has suited our car more,” he said. “It doesn’t guarantee that we’ll win again this year, but it’s just a track that I like the flow of.”
Antonelli, 19, arrives in Canada as the championship leader after a stunning start to the season and will be chasing a fourth successive Formula One victory this weekend.
The Italian can join Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen as the only active drivers to have won four races in a row.
“Definitely I did not expect to have such a strong start to the season, but definitely I’m not complaining,” Antonelli said, adding he was trying not to focus too much on the championship.
“I just try to focus a lot on race by race, not trying to think about championship and stuff like that. But of course, I’m very well aware of the position that I am in now.”
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Montreal; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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