Kimi Antonelli issues Mercedes instruction after fresh George Russell talks

Kimi Antonelli has told Mercedes it cannot place its drivers "on a leash" after a fresh round of talks with team-mate George Russell.

Last time out in Canada, the Mercedes drivers engaged in fierce battles for the lead of the Sprint and grand prix, with Antonelli branding Russell's defence in the former as "naughty".

Russell won out in the Sprint before leading the grand prix before an engine failure handed Antonelli a fourth straight grand prix win and a 43-point championship lead over his team-mate.

Following their battle, the two held talks with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff before grand prix qualifying, with Antonelli revealing a fresh round ahead of Monaco, as he also issued the team an instruction on how to handle the duelling team-mates.

"Basically, we had a discussion after the race weekend, and one a couple of days ago before coming here," Antonelli revealed to media, including RacingNews365.

"We had a chat and reviewed the race, and we went through how you can race each other freely, as long as there is respect and that you don't put yourself in a situation that could damage one or both of you. 

"The team does not want to put any rules. I believe they want both cars to finish and get as many points as possible, and that is in our minds as well because we race for ourselves because we want to be the best and to win, but we also race for the team because we want to reward the 2000 plus people that work in Brackley and Brixworth. 

"We want the team to win, so we are well aware, and we are going to keep racing each other as we did in Canada, of course, a bit more smartly, but definitely, the team wants us to race freely, because it is also the way to be. 

"You can't really put a leash on a driver that is fighting for wins and for the championship, you can't really tell him: 'Just sit back.'

"Of course, it can happen when the team wants us to race fairly."