27/05/2026

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | MAY 27, 2026

27

Russell’s pain, Kimi’s gain Briton won’t like it but one driver can show him way forward after F1 title blow in Canada Ű BY KIERAN JACKSON

WEDNESDAY | MAY 27, 2026

SCAN ME

T: 03-7784 6688 F: 03-7785 2625 E: sunconnects@thesundaily.com

Jobs

302

T HERE was a time in George Russell’s seven-year Formula 1 career that he could afford a cruel instance of racing misfor tune. In fact, every single one of those seasons, before this 2026 campaign. But not now. Not amidst an intra-team championship battle which, to his utter dismay, is currently only heading in one direction. Yet one man’s chagrin is another man’s exultation. For Kimi Antonelli, life does not get any better right now. Not only did he claim his fourth vic tory in a row on the streets of Montreal – the first driver ever to win their first four races consecutively – but he stood on top of the podium alongside two of the sport’s greats and two of his closest mentors: Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Want to wipe the smile off the 19 year-old’s face? Good luck with that. Of more significance, of course, is the impact of Antonelli’s 25-point boost in the face of Russell’s unfortunate mechanical retirement. Both Mercedes drivers battled in thrilling, close-to-the bone fashion in the first half of the race, swapping the race lead as they refused to give each other an inch. It was only late in the day when the Silver Arrows urged their drivers to relent; Toto Wolff and his team should be applauded for permitting such wheel-to-wheel combat, a decade on from Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s infa mous Barcelona crash in similar title-inducing, nerve-shredding cir cumstances. But on lap

a close fight and I think it would have gone down right until the end.” Much like Lando Norris’s crestfallen experience in the Zandvoort sand dunes after his late retirement at the Dutch Grand Prix last year, the snapshot of a gutted Russell watching his broken Mercedes car getting wheeled off the track could be one of the pictures of the season. Yet how the British driver responds, as we head back to the traditional set of European races this summer, will define his campaign. While Norris only had nine rounds remaining to overturn a 34 point lead, Russell still has 17 races left to gradually chip away at the deficit. What he cannot allow to happen, how ever, is for Antonelli to run over the hills and far away. By the time he claimed his world championship in Abu Dhabi last year, Norris acknowledged that his brush with misfortune last year was the best thing that could have happened to him. Afterwards, relieved of pressure, he threw caution to the wind and reeled in McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri rap idly. Russell, who has more time on his side, does not need to invoke such aggressions just yet. Yet, though he won’t like this, there may well come a time when he will have to replicate his compatriot’s 2025 change of approach. In fact, who knows: Sunday’s desperate DNF could be the best thing to

30, everything changed. Not that Russell will view it as such, but there is some irony that Mercedes’s power unit – une quivocally the most dominant in the field this year – was what gave up the ghost. An engine failure nobody saw coming brought a sorry end to the drama. It was Russell’s first retirement in 38 races, since Silverstone 2024. The boy from King’s Lynn, aghast with rage, threw his head restraint out of his cockpit, an action he would later receive a suspended £4,300 (RM22,973) fine for, and ripped his gloves off in dis gust. “Right now it’s Antonelli’s to lose,” Russell said. The 28-year-old now trails his teammate by 43 points. “So many points ahead, it feels like the gods don’t want me to be in this fight. The pressure is off, I’ll go out and enjoy every single race, try and win every single race and I’ve got nothing to lose. “I don’t want to be stood here talking like that and of course I’m frustrated and want to be in that fight… hopefully the luck turns.” To his credit, Antonelli did not rub salt into the wounds. A day on from his radio outburst in the face of contact between the pair in the sprint race, the Italian acknowledged his teammate’s bad luck and their captivating on-track conflict. “It was very close and the (car fail ure) was a shame for him as it would have been a very cool battle,” he said. “But we will take it, another win.” “It was nice to end the weekend well, not really the way I wanted to win, it was

Jobs

302

happen to Russell, if it reinvigorates his crum bling title charge. – The Independent

MEDIA SALES - Specialist

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli celebrates on the podium after winning the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on Sunday. – AFPPIC

Job Description t # VJMEJOH BOE TVTUBJOJOH TUSPOH XPSLJOH SFMBUJPOTIJQ XJUI BEWFSUJTJOH BHFODJFT BOE DMJFOUT t / FX CVTJOFTT EFWFMPQNFOU BOE CVTJOFTT SFUFOUJPO t $ PODFQUVBMJTF QMBO BOE FYFDVUF DSFBUJWF BOE JOOPWBUJWF NBSLFUJOH DBNQBJHOT UP FOIBODF CSBOE WJTJCJMJUZ BOE FOHBHFNFOU t $ SFBUF EFWFMPQ BOE DPOUJOVPVTMZ JNQSPWF NBSLFUJOH NBUFSJBM QSFTFOUBUJPOT BOE QSPQPTBMT UIBU TIPXDBTF PVS QSPEVDUT TFSWJDFT FGGFDUJWFMZ Requirements t 4 1. MFWFM XJUI BU MFBTU UXP ZFBST PG FYQFSJFODF t % JQMPNB PS #BDIFMPS T EFHSFF JO CVTJOFTT NBSLFUJOH PS PUIFS SFMBUFE GJFMET t 'SFTI HSBEVBUFT BSF FODPVSBHFE UP BQQMZ USBJOJOH XJMM CF QSPWJEFE t (PPE DPNNVOJDBUJPO QSFTFOUBUJPO QSPCMFN TPMWJOH BOE PSHBOJTBUJPOBM TLJMMT t 1 BTTJPOBUF JO DMJFOU TFSWJDJOH t 1 PTTFTT PXO USBOTQPSU BOE XJMMJOH UP USBWFM t "CMF UP TUBSU XPSL JNNFEJBUFMZ Office based in

Ferrari are team to beat: Antonelli ITALIAN Formula One fans could have mixed feelings going into the next race in Monaco with Kimi Antonelli pointing to Ferrari as favourites to end his run of success. Ferrari, Italy’s team, have not won a grand prix since October 2024 but seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton finished second in Montreal.

Petaling Jaya (Five-day week)

Notices

322

MEDIA SALES - Representative/Agent (Freelance)

it’s giving them a lot of downforce at low speeds.” Mercedes have won all five grands prix so far this year, and two out of three sprints. “(Monaco) is the one track that power is not king. “I think that’s definitely car performance. I think our car could be really strong there,” said Hamilton. “If you take away the power deficit, we’re in the fight with these guys (Mercedes)… Monaco should be fun.” Ferrari have also been notably quick off the mark at the start thanks to having a smaller turbo than rival cars, making the car more responsive to throttle input. “Monaco is a completely different story with different conditions,” said team boss Fred Vasseur, who saluted Hamilton as ‘Luigi’ after the race – a nickname that could stick. – Reuters

Requirement t . JOJNVN POF ZFBS TBMFT FYQFSJFODF JO DMBTTJGJFE BE QSJOU BOE EJHJUBM BEWFSUJTJOH t 5IPTF XJUIPVU TBMFT FYQFSJFODF CVU XJUI NFEJB BEWFSUJTJOH LOPXMFEHF NBZ BMTP BQQMZ t "UUSBDUJWF DPNNJTTJPO QBDLBHF BOE JODFOUJWFT t "CMF UP TUBSU JNNFEJBUFMZ t $FOUSBM /PSUIFSO 4PVUIFSO &BTU $PBTU BOE 4BCBI 4BSBXBL

Monaco is a home race for the Briton’s locally-born teammate Charles Leclerc, win ner there in 2024, and a winding street race where top speed and engine power are not so key. “I think Ferrari is going to be the team to beat in Monaco and it’s going to be very interesting how we do there,” Antonelli told Sky Sports television at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – a track named after Canada’s late Ferrari great. “For sure Ferrari is the favourite because also with that winglet they have in the back

Send in your CV with your photo via email to : thesun.hr2@gmail.com