George Russell’s battery failure on lap 30 of the Canadian Grand Prix brought an end to a thrilling wheel-to-wheel fight and handed Kimi Antonelli a meaningful lead in the championship. That will sting — any driver would be devastated to see a strong result disappear through no fault of their own — but when the dust settles there are clear reasons for Russell to leave Montreal encouraged.
He demonstrated strong pace and racecraft across the weekend, repeatedly showing he could mix it with the front-runners and extract performance when it mattered. The incident was a reliability issue rather than a mistake, so it doesn’t erase the positive signs about his and the car’s potential. There’s a growing expectation around Russell that mirrors the pressure Lando Norris faced earlier in the previous season, and moments like Montreal underline why that belief exists: he’s consistently in contention and fighting aggressively for points.
In short, the DNF hurts, but the underlying performance gives Russell momentum to build on. If the team addresses the mechanical gremlins, he should be well-placed to convert strong weekends into solid championship returns in the rounds ahead.