Kimi Antonnelli has taken a dominating ten-second victory in an action-packed Canadian Grand Prix. The Italian was able to pull ahead after an intense battle with Mercedes teammate George Russell, who suffered a technical issue and retired on lap twenty-nine.
Russell, up until that point, looked to be fighting hard with his teammate, with them at one stage banging wheels and at one stage Antonelli running wide in a race where there was plenty of action. As quarter distance approached, pressure started to show, and Antonelli started to show cracks as the Mercedes duo came close to contact several times.
The racing rivalry between Antonelli and Russell started immediately. Russell made a slow start from pole, Antonelli passed his teammate, and McLaren’s Lando Norris swept by both Mercedes into the lead from third on the grid.
Five laps later, Russell again locked up at the hairpin, and Antonelli passed for the lead down the straight towards the final chicane, only to make his own mistake at the hairpin two laps later and let Russell back into the lead. Antonelli came back at him on the outside into the chicane and was slightly ahead as they turned in, but he had to take to the run-off area.
The whole weekend, the two Mercedes have been at it before Russell’s retirement during their fight for the wins they had been arguing. The Italian complained about Russell’s driving, accusing him of pushing him off the track, and shortly before Russell’s race ended, both drivers had been warned to keep the racing “tidy”, or they would be told to hold position.
Mercedes, meanwhile, had started to pull away from the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who were engaged in their own fight in what was appearing to be the battle for the final podium place. But the battle between the Mercedes would end either in a collision or a retirement, it was the latter as approaching half distance, Russell’s Mercedes stopped on track and was out.
From that point in the race, Antonelli seized control using the pace advantage of the Mercedes to pull ten seconds ahead of old rivals Hamilton and Verstappen. They were no match for Antonelli, who in the second half of the race sailed off down the St Lawernce River.
Antonelli, who wins the Canadian Grand Prix: “First of all thank you everyone for coming this weekend. it was a really fun battle, to be fair, with George. We were pretty much on the limit. It was not easy today, with the wind, very gusty. Turn Tem is very difficult, I think one lap, he locked up and I went in front and then I locked up so it was very close and it was a shame for him to have a failure because it would have been a very cool battle, but we will take it. Another win, I am very happy and massive thanks to the team.’
Hamilton added, “Firstly, I have to say a huge thank you to my team here. These guys have welcomed me with open arms. It’s been really tough over the past year and a bit so to finally find our sweet spot and have a good weekend, it’s an amazing feeling to be back up here, especially with these guys being so quick and I actually got to have a race with Max which is great.”
Verstappen who finished the race third, “I had some cool battles out there, racing back up front is always better, right? For us to have our first podium, of course, is really positive. Very happy with that. Cool battle with Lewis [Hamilton] as well at the end. We kept pushing until the line and in a weekend when it’s not that easy to get things right, for us to be on the podium here is extremely positive. Naturally very happy with that.”
Russell told Sky Sports, “Everything just turned off all of a sudden. I went into the corner, the engine stopped, no electronics, no proper braking. A bit lost for words to be honest right now. From my side, I don’t feel like there was anything more I could have done this weekend. I will leave satisfied. Of course I’m pretty damn frustrated with what happened. What more can I do?”
But while the Mercedes battle was over, the former title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen began, though they struggled for pace to chase Antonelli for victory, they were at it in an equally close fight. The experience of tough but fair racing saw the seven-time champion eventually come out on top, finishing half a second ahead.
Hamilton was aided by two virtual safety cars, which kept him within touching distance during the middle part of the race the seven-time champion was back on Verstappen’s tail and they went into the last thirteen laps with the Ferrari less than a second adrift.
Hamilton kept asking his team for more power, but he kept his patience, and at the start of lap sixty-two, with six to go, he finally made it through, with a delicious move around the outside of the Red Bull into the first corner.
Verstappen came back at the Ferrari, challenging him into the first corner a lap later and pressured him for the rest of the race, but Hamilton held on for his best result for Ferrari in a grand prix, and Verstappen took his first podium of the year in third.
Charles Leclerc was fourth despite a late half-spin, with Ferrari moving ahead of McLaren into second in the Constructors’ Championship. The Monacan was the only other car on the lead lap as he finished over thirty seconds behind Verstappen, in a race where he didn’t appear to feature much. Leclerc finished ahead of the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar.
Leclerc was frustrated by his race, one where he had a massive moment out of the final chicane but managed to hold the car from spinning. So frustrated that with about twenty-five laps to go he asked his engineer for no more communication until the final lap unless it was for something urgent.
Meanwhile, for the reigning champions McLaren, it was a nightmare, a brilliant or awful decision to start on the inters was wrong as the threat of rain never materialised, dropping both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri into the midfield.
Norris’ race was even worse, as he had to retire on lap forty at the hairpin, with a suspected gearbox failure. The following virtual safety car period was the perfect time for the frontrunners to switch from softs to mediums on what turned out to be a straightforward one-stop race as the expected rain never materialised.
Hadjar was leading the lapped cars in fifth, finishing fourteen and a half seconds clear of the Alpine of Franco Colapinto. The Argentine, continuing his strong run of recent results, saw him finish ahead of Liam Lawson. The Racing Bull fourteen seconds behind, with Colapinto’s Pierre Gasly teammate just over three tenths behind.
Carlos Sainz was ninth, finishing a second ahead of Ollie Bearman, as they were the final cars a lap down, and they completed the top ten point scorers.
Piastri and McLaren’s nightmare afternoon saw him finish a further lap behind; they were unable to slice through the field as they don’t have the same pace advantage as last year.
Nico Hulkenberg was a second and a half further behind, the German finishing nearly seven seconds ahead of his Audi teammate Gabriel Bortoletto. Esteban Ocon was two laps ahead of Lance Stroll, who finished thirty-four seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas.
Bottas Cadillac teammate Sergio Perez retired with a suspension failure, while the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso found himself out of the running following a problem with his seat.
Williams’ Alex Albon was eliminated after being hit by Piastri – an incident that Piastri received a penalty for – and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad did not even get to start the race after experiencing a clutch issue on the grid.
Related
- Canadian GP – Qualifying Result
- CANADIAN GP – George Russell beats teammate Kimi Antonelli by seven hundredths to take pole
- Canadian GP – Sprint Result
- CANADIAN GP – George Russell takes a second victory, finishing ahead of Lando Norris in the sprint, as tension brews at Mercedes
- Canadian GP – Sprint Qualifying Result
- CANADIAN GP – George Russell beats Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli by seven hundredths to sprint pole
- CANADIAN GP – Kimi Antonelli leads teammate George Russell by under a tenth in an interrupted practice session
- Welcome to the Canadian Grand Prix – 20/05/2026
- PRIXVIEW – Canadian Grand Prix
