'Russell's driving style fits Barcelona better than Antonelli's in Mercedes battle'

"He will be happy but I think he knew coming here that this track would suit his driving style a little bit better than his teammate," the Canadian said of Russell after the conclusion of the final free practice session at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on Sky Sports. The Briton was the quickest, finishing ahead of second-placed Oscar Piastri by more than two tenths.

Villeneuve continued: "So he's taking advantage of it and pushing. But the track is slippery and this track if you don't have the perfect set-up, you can't drive around it."It's very difficult and you need to be precise."

According to the 1997 world champion, Antonelli's style fits other circuits. He explained: "Antonelli's driving style suits stop and go tracks. He goes very deep into the corner, turns in early, pivots early the car and gets on the gas, the electric part of the engine pulls him out and he runs a super-soft rear end. That normally means a lot of understeer and that doesn't work on this track.

"This track is very understeery but, at the same time, the rear snaps. Russell has a smoother driving style and it works here," he concluded.

Kimi Antonelli is investigated by the stewards after FP3 at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix for driving erratically in Turn 2. After being held up by Lance Stroll into Turn 1 on his flying lap on a new set of soft tyres, he returned him the favour into the next corner.

The two drivers will have to appear in front of the stewards at 14:00 local time (13:00 GMT). Meanwhile, Stroll was also fined €600 for speeding in the pit lane. He exceeded the limit by 5.9 km/h.