Kimi Antonelli has responded after George Russell insisted it was the Italian’s “title to lose” ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.

The 19-year-old leads Russell by 43 points following his victory in Montreal, an event that saw his team-mate suffer a significant setback after retiring from the lead due to a battery failure.

It has put Antonelli in a very strong position after just five races, making him the favourite in many people’s eyes to become world champion this season.

Russell is one of those believers, telling the BBC that it is “his to lose”, with the Briton revealing that his focus is now simply on taking each race as it comes.

Antonelli is refusing to be drawn into the mind games and is adamant that it is far too early to be making such comments, especially when he has nothing to lose, having never secured an F1 title.

Asked for his thoughts on Russell saying it is his title to lose, Antonelli told select media, including RacingNews365: “To be fair, I don’t really give weight to that line because it’s still so early in the season. There are still 17, maybe more, races left, and it is very, very early to be thinking or talking about the championship.

“So, yeah, to be fair, I just continue trying to excel and do my best whenever I get in the car, trying to maximise the result. Then we’ll see where we end up at the end of the season.

“But I also think it’s difficult to talk about losing something when you don’t even have it. I didn’t win the championship, so how can I lose something that I didn’t even achieve?

“So, yeah, I will definitely race as I always have, enjoy it as much as possible and, like I said before, we’ll see where we end up at the end of the season.”