Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic’s F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox twice a week during the season and weekly in the offseason.Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we now know that even the track marshals at the Canadian Grand Prix act like groundhogs:The championship seems like it turned last weekend. Or it just got started. I’m Patrick, and Luke Smith will be along shortly. Let’s talk about it.George Russell vs. racing godsAfter winning the Canadian GP on Sunday, Kimi Antonelli leads the Formula 1 championship by 43 points over second-place teammate George Russell. But strip away three specific moments of misfortune, and the standings would look quite different.As Madeline Coleman noted in her story, China, Japan and Canada handed Antonelli some gifts. Let’s dive into all three and map out exactly what this title fight would look like if the racing gods were just a little kinder to the preseason favorite (Russell):China: The qualifying breakdown
After reporting a loss of power and battery in Q3, Russell managed to limp back to the pits in first gear. The team got him back out with seconds to spare, but he only had one shot. He ended up second, just 0.222 seconds behind Antonelli, who dominated from the start to claim his first Grand Prix victory.
