But perhaps the most relevant point to make about Russell is the odd swing won’t be enough. Antonelli looks like a formidable opponent. For all the talk in pre-season and back in Australia that Russell was the clear favourite and had learned how to maximise these new engines and rules so quickly, Antonelli looks extremely at home with F1 2026 himself.

He is quick, a nuisance, aggressive - and at his best he’s been simply too good for Russell to match.

Source: The biggest problem Russell faces after Canada blow

An interesting metric that made me realize how hard the uphill climb for Russell is going to be:

Clearly, beating Antonelli once is hard enough. Russell needs to do it seven times in a row just to guarantee getting back in the championship lead. With Mercedes still more likely than not to be first and second unless they get in their own way, Russell can expect that if he does win it’ll likely be Antonelli following him home and minimising the points loss.

Source: The biggest problem Russell faces after Canada blow

That’s not a small feat. On the other hand, if Russell achieves that and wins the championship, no one can claim he didn’t earn it. The question is: will Russell give in or pull a Verstappen?

The Canada race was honestly great racing up and down the field. Apple TV as a streaming service for F1 is terrible. The commentary is awful, the ads are terrible, and their timing seems particularly bad. Although I finally learned that you can use your Apple TV subscription back inside the F1 TV app and we can finally have Crofty giving the commentary again.