De la Rosa makes important point about Russell–Antonelli duel

Mercedes has been leading the way in Montreal so far, with Russell on pole position and Antonelli right behind him. During the sprint race the two fought hard for the lead, with Antonelli complaining over the radio that Russell had pushed him off the track. According to De la Rosa, however, there was little wrong with it.

“It was simply a racing incident. It was great to watch, two cars and two drivers fighting for positions and for the lead. I didn’t see anything wrong really to comment on. Other than that it was just goodracing,” said the former F1 driver in conversation with GPblog.

The Spaniard believes that the fact both drivers race for Mercedes made the discussion bigger than necessary. “We should forget that they drive for the same team. If we forgot that they were from the same team, then there would absolutely nothing to say,” emphasizes the Aston Martin ambassador.

He also points to the reaction over the team radios, which he says fueled extra commotion. “It’s just that they were on the same team and then people started, you know, talking, and then there were the radio comments and stuff. But I thought it was great - great attacking and great defending. So for me, it was. I also think the stewards did a really, really good job by not even noting or investigating it.”

De la Rosa also does not expect Toto Wolff to be genuinely worried about the internal battle between Russell and Antonelli, despite the tensions visible during the sprint: “I think he won’t need to manage anything, to be honest. Toto is a great team principal. I’ve known him for a long time. He won’t allow any fights inside the team. He’s just very good. He’s very experienced. He’s done it before,” the Spaniard continues, referring to the fierce rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, which reached its boiling point in 2016.

According to the former McLaren driver, there are now also clear codes of conduct within teams about how drivers should treat each other on track: “I think that in every team there are rules of engagement between drivers. There are some clear rules about how you should behave when fighting the opposition or accepting the team’s decision. And that is very clear nowadays in every team.”

That does not mean, however, that mistakes cannot be made: “Of course, you can make a mistake. It’s part of the game that you can lock the wheels and take your teammate out. But that’s a mistake. There’s no real intention behind doing that. So, as long as the rules of engagement within any team are respected - while also accepting, as I said, that there’s room for mistakes, unintentional mistakes - everything is fine.”

De la Rosa actually hopes that Formula 1 continues to allow this kind of battling: “That’s what we’re here for - to see fighting. It doesn’t matter whether you’re from the same team or different teams. I always say this is motorsport, this is racing. If you want to go to a prize ceremony, go to the Oscars where there’s a red carpet. But in motor racing, there should never be a red carpet. It’s elbows out, but in a fair way.”

According to De la Rosa, it was also good news for Formula 1 that McLaren increasingly mixed it at the front during the Canadian weekend: “I think one of the good things yesterday was seeing McLaren getting involved in the fight as well at one point. That’s really encouraging.”