Mercedes make 'too close for comfort' acknowledgement after George Russell-Kimi Antonelli fight

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has acknowledged that George Russell and Kimi Antonelli's battles during the Canadian Grand Prix were "too close for comfort".

The Mercedes duo came close to making contact in both the sprint and the grand prix in Montreal during intense fighting, resulting in behind-the-scenes conversations.

In the sprint, Antonelli found himself off the circuit twice, with the championship leader complaining over the radio that Russell deserved a penalty. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff ultimately intervened, informing the Italian to wait until he was back in the garage.

The fighting continued during the opening stages of the grand prix before Russell suffered a shock retirement while leading following an ERS module failure.

Russell's unfortunate retirement handed a comfortable victory to Antonelli, marking his fourth win in a row and extending his lead in the drivers' championship to 43 points.

However, it was the fighting between the pair that grabbed the headlines, with Wolff allowing it to happen because both drivers wanted to be free to race. It is what the Silver Arrows want, provided Russell and Antonelli avoid contact.

Asked on the Nu Silver Arrows radio show what it feels like to watch Russell and Antonelli battle, Shovlin explained: "It (your heart rate) does go up a bit, but when you look at most of it, it is absolutely fine and you always want to let the drivers race.

"If the team is doing a good job, you've had the right conversations beforehand and you don't have to interfere. There were a couple of points in Canada where it got too close for comfort. 

"There was one point where it looked like one car could have ended up going into the back of the other and we will do everything to avoid that, but the two of them want to be allowed to race. 

"They know that they need to deliver on their end of the bargain, which is race fairly without risking DNFs and don't hit each other. We had good discussions over the weekend and we'll have good discussions ahead of the next race."