Martin Brundle: "Nothing to choose between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli" in Mercedes F1 battle

Former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports analyst Martin Brundle has argued that there is currently "nothing to choose" between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.

Following a frantic Canadian Grand Prix sprint race, in which Antonelli accused his Mercedes team-mate of pushing him off the track, the pair later resolved the issue before continuing their tense on-track battle during the grand prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

"There's nothing to choose between Russell and Antonelli at the moment, experience and wisdom seems to match unbridled speed and enthusiasm perfectly, and that's why they keep meeting in the middle of a corner," Brundle explained in his Sky Sports column.

"They constantly seemed to be side by side especially when either driver ran a touch deep on the brakes into the Turn 10 hairpin. That is until Russell's Merc expired for good with a rare technical failure somewhere in the power unit. And he was out."

After several laps of an exciting rivalry between the two team-mates, Russell was forced to retire due to a battery failure. Antonelli went on to claim his fourth consecutive win and extend his lead in the drivers' championship to 43 points over Russell.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

Antonelli was joined on the podium by seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in second and Red Bull's Max Verstappen in third. "Three different teams on the podium, and while not an all-time classic this was a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable Grand Prix as far as I'm concerned," Brundle added.

"George Russell is now 43 points behind his teenage team-mate, that's equivalent to a first and second place, and he has to believe that what goes around comes around. There's still a very long way to go but McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull are not going to stand still either."

The Monaco Grand Prix is up next on 5-7 June.