Russell perplexed by struggles having arrived in Monaco playing mind games

George Russell arrived in Monaco with the intention of playing a few mind games with Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli in an attempt to get his championship back on track.

Russell claimed that the title was now Antonelli's "to lose" after the 19-year-old Italian had extended his advantage in their private fight to 43 points following the Canadian Grand Prix, where the Briton retired from the lead.

By the end of qualifying, though, Russell admitted it was he who was "scratching my head" as he faced the reality that he was sixth on the grid, and Antonelli on pole - with 0.394 seconds between them.

And for the first time this season he acknowledged what has been becoming increasingly clear in recent races - that he was struggling compared with Antonelli. He said: "I don't really know what's going on."

Russell pointed out that in the first two races of the season in Australia and China "every lap I did was good" but that "now nothing's clicking".

The 28-year-old was on pole at the last race in Canada but said: "The last three races have just been nowhere. Even Canada, I was nowhere until the last lap of Q3 of both sessions. So, I don't have an answer for that."

He added: "Until I can make some adjustments, it's going to continue like this."

Russell said he believed the problem lay in their respective driving styles, and its impact on whether the tyres were at their ideal temperature for a qualifying lap.