– Kimi Antonelli won the Canadian Grand Prix, thereby extending his lead in the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship. However, the victory was again preceded – as in the F1 sprint on Saturday – by a fierce wheel-to-wheel duel between the two Mercedes drivers, which at times severely tested the nerves of team principal Toto Wolff.
Read more Mekies: No message behind meeting of Jos Verstappen and Toto Wolff
It was then a technical defect that decided the race in Montreal when Russell’s Mercedes power unit gave up before halfway. This cleared the way for Antonelli. “I didn’t want to win like this,” he said over the radio at the finish. “It was an entertaining fight with George. We both pushed pretty much to the limit. It’s a shame he retired like that. It would have been a cool battle.”
The two McLaren stars had already dropped out as contenders at the start due to the wrong tire choice in drizzle, and Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) did not have the pace to seriously threaten Mercedes. The two long-time rivals finished the race in second and third places.
“Getting the first podium is positive,” says Verstappen. “It was a cool duel with Lewis. And in the end, it’s a result I gladly take after a weekend where not everything went smoothly.”
Fourth was Charles Leclerc, who this time was the slower Ferrari driver, ahead of Isack Hadjar (Red Bull), surprise man Franco Colapinto (Alpine), Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Carlos Sainz (Williams), and Oliver Bearman (Haas). Oscar Piastri (McLaren) crossed the finish line in eleventh. His chances were already greatly reduced after the three warm-up laps.
No World Championship points for Nico Hülkenberg. Audi, like McLaren, decided to start on intermediates. Thus, Sunday afternoon was basically over for the only German in the field. Ultimately, Hülkenberg finished twelfth, just ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto.
On the topic:
Results: Canadian GP race
F1 2026 World Championship standings
F1 ticker: Paddock live with Ruben Zimmermann
Vote now: Rate the 22 drivers
F1 show: Livestream on YouTube and Twitch (3 AM)
Gamble with intermediates: “Shouldn’t we pit?”
The tension was already high before the start. As expected, it began to rain before the race – not heavily, but steadily. “It will definitely be a chaotic race,” predicted ServusTV expert Christian Klien. After all, with the new 2026 Formula 1 car generation, there had been no official rain session before.
The field was then mixed in the choice of starting tires: the two Mercedes in row 1 went for softs, the McLaren duo in row 2 started on intermediates for the warm-up lap, behind them Ferrari and Red Bull on softs, and Audi (with rain specialist Nico Hülkenberg) also chose intermediates. Although the ideal line looked quite dry.
“I already feel like the tires are sliding,” reported Piastri during the warm-up lap. Then the first start was aborted: Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) could not engage a gear on grid position 9 and signaled to race control that he had a problem – so the start sequence could not continue.
Result: a second warm-up lap. Piastri then said: “I feel the rain has stopped. It’s time for slicks. Shouldn’t we just pit?” McLaren declined – and got even more thinking time in the form of a third warm-up lap while Lindblad’s car was pushed from the grid to the pits.
Did the intermediates at least pay off at the start?
Indeed, at least one McLaren was able to use the advantage of intermediates in the first meters: Norris rocketed from third place into the lead, ahead of Antonelli, Russell, and Hamilton. Piastri initially got away quite well but still lost a position to Hamilton because he was on the wrong side of the track exiting Senna-S. At the end of the first lap, Piastri pitted, switched to medium tires, and dropped back to 21st place.
At the end of the second lap, Norris also made the inevitable tire change, so Antonelli now led ahead of Russell and Hamilton. Further back, everyone who started on intermediates revised their decision. Norris was now only 14th, 19 seconds behind Antonelli and four seconds ahead of Piastri.
From lap 6: Mercedes duel escalates again!
On lap 6, almost a continuation of Saturday’s Mercedes escalation: Russell closed in on Antonelli before the final chicane with a clear power advantage – but Antonelli braked so late afterward that he almost rear-ended his teammate. The Italian had to cut the chicane and rejoined in second place. Also because Hamilton in third place was now 2.5 seconds behind.
Read more Formula 1 Live Ticker: George Russell with his back against the wall
On lap 9, there was a position change further back: Verstappen passed Hamilton before Senna-S. “I have no power, man. Come on, guys,” complained Hamilton over the Ferrari radio. However, his lap times did not show any performance drop.
On lap 12, the Mercedes duel intensified again. Antonelli attacked on the back straight, but Russell was able to hold on and crossed the start-finish line first, and also in the renewed attack at Senna-S, the team veteran prevailed. Then there was a yellow flag in the last sector (collision Albon-Piastri, for which Piastri later received a ten-second penalty), giving Russell a bit of breathing room.
Until lap 17, when Russell and Antonelli braked side by side and simultaneously into the final chicane, but Antonelli surprisingly merged in disciplined fashion. At the Mercedes command post, the fingernails were being chewed intensely by now.
It took another five laps until Antonelli’s pressure became too great. Russell made a small mistake in the hairpin, which Antonelli used to pass his teammate on the long back straight. One lap later, he already had a 0.8-second lead at the start-finish line – with an increasing trend.
Until Antonelli also made a mistake in the hairpin, which Russell was able to use this time. With outside intervention, as Antonelli was asked to let Russell take the lead to avoid a penalty. “But he pushed me off,” the Italian couldn’t understand the world anymore.
Before halfway: How was the decision made?
It was then a technical defect that ended the electrifying Mercedes duel. Russell rolled out on lap 30, first slammed his cockpit protection and then his gloves to the ground – and surely shouted some not entirely family-friendly curses under his helmet. Quite different from Antonelli, who inherited the lead under the virtual safety car. Possibly an important milestone also regarding the decision in the drivers’ championship.
After the VSC pit stops, Antonelli led 5.2 seconds ahead of Verstappen, 12.9 ahead of Hamilton, 16.2 ahead of Hadjar, and 17.6 ahead of Leclerc. Norris, who after the initial tire mistake was temporarily able to keep pace with the leaders, was ninth with over a minute deficit until he rolled out with suspected major gearbox damage.
The last good ten laps were then marked by the duel between Verstappen and Hamilton for second place. From lap 57, Hamilton was on the attack. “I need more power, buddy,” he radioed to his race engineer. He found it on lap 62: Verstappen had already gained a few car lengths again when Hamilton suddenly accelerated before Senna-S and passed with a surprise attack.
Hadjar then received a stop-and-go penalty in the finish for changing line under braking in the duel against Hamilton. A penalty that had no effect on him because the gap behind (Colapinto in sixth) was large enough.
Antonelli had long since retired by that time. After Russell’s retirement, he was never in danger again and crossed the finish line with a 10.8-second lead over Hamilton. “When I could drive alone, I saved the tires because I had a bit of graining on the front left,” Antonelli explains.
What’s next after the Canadian Grand Prix?
Montreal was the fifth of 22 race weekends on the 2026 Formula 1 calendar. After the previous overseas rounds, the pinnacle of motorsport now begins its European tour. This starts from June 5 to 7 with the Monaco Grand Prix, “back to back” with the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona just one week later.
But for Formula 1 fans, there is also a fixed appointment on Sunday evening. Because on Monday night, Kevin and Kevin (Scheuren and Hermann) stream on the YouTube channel of Formel1.de and analyze the race Sunday.
Read more Hadjar disappointed after Canada qualifying: «Could not deliver»
