Antonelli and Russell 'free to race' at Monaco GP: 'You can't put a leash on us'

Having started the season as the title favourite, Russell has doubled down on post-Montreal claims that the championship is Antonelli's to lose, after the Briton's battery failure brought on a heartbreaking DNF. For those 30 laps prior to Russell's breakdown, however, he had been constantly fighting his teenage teammate for the lead.

Following contact in the Sprint on the Saturday prior, which saw tense radio exchanges between Antonelli and team principal Toto Wolff, the intra-Mercedes battle only continued the following day - with Wolff admitting he was enjoying the rivalry but ready to "pull the handbrake" at any moment that would jeopardise the team.

Speaking during Thursday's media day, Antonelli revealed that discussions have taken place within the team prior to the Monaco GP, and that despite the fierce episode in Montreal, he and Russell are still free to race.

Antonelli said to media, including GPblog: "We had this discussion after the race weekend, actually we had one a couple of days ago before coming here too, and we had a chat, we reviewed all the episodes of the race.

While Antonelli admitted drivers "race for themselves," he is well aware of his and Russell's responsibilities within the Mercedes team, with the plan to continue racing as they did in Canada, but a "bit more smartly" and with the team always in mind.

Antonelli's teammate Russell then backed up the 19-year-old's takeaway from the Mercedes meeting, that the drivers "have to be trusted" to battle one another and will be going forward.

Russell said: "No, there's no concerns at all. It was left that we have to be trusted. This is what we do. You know, we're drivers. We push ourselves to the limit every single lap. And when we race with one another, you push each other to the limits as well.