MONTREAL — George Russell clashed with Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli early in Saturday’s sprint race on Canadian Grand Prix weekend, sending the teen star into the grass in an entertaining victory from pole position.
Russell — who later took the pole for Sunday’s race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where he won last year’s GP — fended off a pair of attacks from Antonelli on the sixth of 23 laps as the drivers made contact in the first turn, forcing the 19-year-old Italian into the grass.
“That was very naughty,” a furious Antonelli said in one of several complaints as emotions boiled over on the team radio.
Antonelli — the winner of the past three GP races since Russell’s season-opening victory in Australia — accused his 28-year-old British teammate of pushing him off before demanding a penalty.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff told Antonelli to “concentrate on the driving, please, not on the radio moaning.”