George Russell faces "punch in the gut" warning amid Kimi Antonelli pressure

David Coulthard believes the Canadian GP could be a psychological test for George Russell as he tries to respond to Kimi Antonelli’s strong start

Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard believes the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix is a "really important weekend, psychologically" for George Russell as he looks to reassert his authority at Mercedes.

As Kimi Antonelli extended his lead in the drivers' championship to 20 points over Russell after three consecutive wins in China, Japan and Miami, the pressure is on the Briton.

Speaking on the Up To Speed podcast, Coulthard argued: "I do think this is a really, really important weekend psychologically for George. It's a track that he's historically gone well at.

"We heard him, amazingly in my mind, go through the whole Miami weekend saying, 'Hey, I'm not really good here. The track's never worked for me.' It was very negative building blocks in his mind that just become difficult to get over that wall if you keep building those negative blocks.

"But if Kimi goes to Montreal and puts in the sort of free-spirited performances that we've seen from the 19-year-old, that could be a real punch in the gut for George. So there's a lot at stake at only race five of the season."

While Russell headed into the season as one of the favourites for the drivers' title, the strong start from his 19-year-old team-mate has raised the question of whether the two Mercedes drivers should be allowed to fight.

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

"Are they going to be free to race? And I think, to answer my own question, of course, they're going to be free to race," Coulthard said. "But Toto [Wolff], I'm sure, has read the riot act on, if we go back to Barcelona, what was it [2016] when [Nico] Rosberg and [Lewis] Hamilton crashed... we had the two Mercedes drivers crash coming out of Turn 3 on the opening lap of the Spanish Grand Prix, and Toto flipped his chips.

"I don't know if that's an expression everyone's familiar with, but he blew his top and from that moment on, apparently, he made the drivers pay for the crash damage, which would have been hundreds of thousands of pounds."

The former Red Bull driver added: "I can believe he was able to threaten him with that, but God that would be the worst nightmare for George should he come wheel-to-wheel with Kimi.

"But here's the thing, Kimi is still the puppy and the little baby. We accept little mistakes from youth. We're not quite so forgiving when they've got a bit more experience. So in that respect, George has got more responsibility and more pressure."