Antonelli lands F1 2026 blow as Russell retires in Montreal

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has deepened his championship lead on team-mate George Russell by winning the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, while Russell retired with mechanical issues.

Russell was leading the race after an intense fight with Antonelli, including a glancing blow at the final chicane, when his Mercedes suffered a power unit failure on lap 30. After parking up at Turn 9, Russell jumped out of the car in a furious rage as he not only saw a chance to win his first race since the season opener in Australia evaporate, but also saw team-mate Antonelli get a major boost in the title race.

The pair had been aggressively trading the lead over the first half of the race at Gilles Villeneuve, making a glancing blow on Lap 24 at the final chicane, with Antonelli briefly passing Russell off the track before being ordered to hand the position back.

Russell’s exit afforded Antonelli a much more relaxed second half of the race to cruise home to a fourth consecutive win, dramatically expanding his championship lead on his team-mate to 43 points. As he saw the young Italian cruise to victory, Russell said he was “lost for words” by his retirement.

Behind Antonelli, both McLaren cars suffered a disastrous afternoon, which started with a backfiring choice to start on intermediates on a slightly damp track. As the field embarked on two extra formation laps due to trouble for Arvid Lindblad’s Racing Bulls, Oscar Piastri questioned the wisdom of starting on the grooved tyres, and both he and team-mate Lando Norris soon had to come in for slicks, despite Norris briefly taking the lead at the start.

As both McLarens were dumped back into the midfield pack, Piastri clattered into the back of Williams’ Alex Albon at the hairpin, forcing Albon into retirement and Piastri to the pits for a new front wing. The Australian was handed a 10-second penalty. Norris’ race was even worse, as he had to retire on lap 40 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.

With both McLarens eliminating themselves from contention, fifth-starting Max Verstappen moved up to second some nine seconds behind Antonelli, as the Dutchman tried to fend off a spirited Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari. At the start of lap 62, Hamilton finally passed Verstappen into Turn 1 to snatch second, finishing 10 seconds behind the winner.

Behind the pair, Charles Leclerc and Isack Hadjar also fought out a Ferrari versus Red Bull duel for fourth place, with Hadjar handed a 10-second penalty for weaving on the straight, which almost led to a high-speed collision. Leclerc found a way past for fourth but finished over 44 seconds behind Antonelli after surviving a tank-slapper out of the final chicane.

Hadjar, who cleared his time penalty under a late virtual safety car period, was then handed a stop-and-go penalty for ignoring yellow flags, but the young Frenchman still hung onto fifth due to the huge gap between the five remaining frontrunners and F1’s midfield.

Alpine came out on top of that midfield battle once more, with Franco Colpainto taking a career-best sixth place ahead of Racing Bulls man Liam Lawson and team-mate Pierre Gasly, who bounced back from a torrid weekend with eighth. Carlos Sainz (Williams) and Oliver Bearman (Haas) rounded out the top 10 to take the final points on offer.

Piastri ended his ordeal outside the points in 11th, in the company of both Audi cars, while a total of six cars retired from the race.

Alongside Lindblad, Albon, Russell and Norris, Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso disappeared from the race with what the team called a problem with his seat. Cadillac’s Sergio Perez suffered a frightening collapse of his front-right suspension and was fortunate to be able to coast to the pitlane.

The action resumes in two weeks’ time on the streets of Monte Carlo at F1’s Monaco Grand Prix.

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– The Autosport.com Team