San Francisco Frontiers - Antonelli regrets Russell retirement but happy with F1 lead

Antonelli described it as "a shame" to end their thrilling on-track battle, but added he was happy to grab his fourth straight triumph to open a 43-point lead ahead of his Mercedes team-mate, who led the most laps before pulling out of the race.

"It was a really fun battle, to be fair, with George,” said the Italian teenager. "We were pretty much on the limit. It was not easy today, with the wind. It was very gusty and Turn 10 is very difficult.

"One lap, I think, he locked up and I went in front -- and then I locked up, so it was very close and it was a shame for him to have a failure because it would have been a very cool battle.

"But, we will take it. Another win. I'm very happy and massive thanks to the team."

Antonelli said he had been so absorbed with his battle for the lead with Russell, which enthralled the crowd at the Circuit Gilles Villeneve, that he had to refocus once in the lead alone.

"When I was on my own, I was trying to really manage the tyres because I started to have some graining on the front-left tyre," he said.

"It was just a weird feeling. The tyre was not really biting, but at the end we had the good pace when the temperature was coming in... And now, we're looking forward to the next one in Monaco."

Luckless Russell, who won Saturday's sprint race after a bruising clash with Antonelli and claimed pole for the Grand Prix, lost all power on lap 30.

It meant his hopes of trimming the precocious 19-year-old Italian's title race lead were wrecked as Antonelli established himself as the man to beat.

"Everything turned off all of a sudden," he said, describing his car's failure. "The engine stopped, no electronics, no proper braking. I'm a bit lost for words. I can't really say much more.

"But to be honest, I’m proud of my weekend. Pole for the sprint race, won the sprint race, pole for the main race... I had a good battle with Kimi. From my side, I don't think there was any more I could do this weekend.

"I'll leave satisfied, although of course I'm pretty frustrated by what has happened, but what more could I do?”

Russell said he had enjoyed his battle with Antonelli and compared it to his early days in motor racing.

"I thought it was great," he said. "I loved it. I really enjoyed it. It felt like karting days. We didn't make any contact. It was close... I loved it. That's what racing is about -- I just would have liked to have continued it for 30 more laps."

T.Rivera--SFF