Montreal ¨C George Russell said there was no need to panic ?ahead of a Canadian Grand Prix weekend that could see championship-leading Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli take his fourth Formula One win in a row.

Russell, 20 points off the championship lead, arrives at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with Mercedes bringing ?its first major upgrade of the season, after McLaren and Ferrari ?introduced developments ?in Miami.

¡°It¡¯s just another race for me, and it¡¯s ?not even on my mind ¡ª?the championship,¡± Russell told reporters on Thursday. ¡°There¡¯s no need to panic at all. As we said we¡¯re four races ?down, 18 at least to go.¡±

¡°Our numbers look pretty promising,¡± he added of the ?upgrade. ¡°But until we drive it on track, there¡¯s always going to be a few unknowns.¡±

The Briton said race launches remained ?Mercedes¡¯ clearest weakness, although improvements ?were unlikely to come immediately.

¡°The starts are a big focus for us because that¡¯s clearly our biggest weak ?point,¡± he said. ¡°We ?know short term it¡¯s going to be difficult ?to make major gains.¡±

Mercedes also expects Montreal to offer a ?stronger platform ?than Miami, with Russell pointing to the team¡¯s recent form at the circuit and the flow of the layout.

¡°The last two years this track has suited our car more,¡± he said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t guarantee ?that we¡¯ll win again this year, but it¡¯s just a track that I like the flow of.¡±

Antonelli, 19, arrives in Canada as the championship leader after a stunning start to the season and will be chasing a fourth successive ?Formula ?One victory.

The Italian can join Fernando Alonso, ?Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen as the only active drivers to have won ?four races in a row.

¡°Definitely I did not expect to have such a strong start to the season, but definitely I¡¯m not complaining,¡± Antonelli said, adding he was trying not to focus too much ?on the championship.

¡°I just try to focus a lot on race by race, not trying to think about championship and stuff like that. But of course, I¡¯m very well aware of the position that I am in now.¡°?