'That's the question mark' – Antonelli questions how long winning form will last ahead of Canadian Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli admits that trying to sustain his strong run of form at the Canadian Grand Prix and beyond is a big unknown "even for myself", as the Italian eyes a maiden Formula 1 title.

The 19-year-old enters this weekend in the lead of the Drivers' standings by 20 points from Mercedes team mate George Russell, having claimed a hat-trick of pole positions and Grands Prix victories so far this campaign.

The impressive results have come despite Antonelli only being in his second season of F1, and ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend he was asked whether he could continue his stunning run of form throughout the remainder of the season.

"That's the question mark, even for myself," he said. "I think the year of experience last season is playing a massive role and also going through the difficult moments last year helped me, made me a lot stronger.

"I feel more in control of the situation, more aware of what's good and not good for me. Just trying to focus on the right things but so far it's going pretty well and obviously the goal this weekend is to pick up where we left off in Miami and just continue this good streak.

"Obviously you never know, I think it's not impossible to maintain this form for the whole year."

Mercedes enter this weekend with their first substantial upgrade package of the season, at a venue where Russell claimed victory and Antonelli stood on an F1 podium for the first time last season.

"It's a place that has a special meaning to me because it's where I got my first podium," said Antonelli.

"This weekend we will definitely try to make even better memories, try to finish on the highest step of the podium but we know it's going to be difficult.

"George has always been very strong here, it's not going to be straightforward but we're also bringing upgrades which hopefully they will work well. We've tried on the simulator and so far they seem positive."

Another new modification this weekend includes a different clutch paddle on Antonelli's W17, with the teenager having suffered bad starts at the majority of races so far this season.

He added: "We made a minor change and hopefully this will help me to be more consistent with the starts and allow myself not to lose any positions off the line."