Montreal, QC – Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli won a cold and damp F1 Canadian Grand Prix to take his fourth-consecutive victory and clearly establish himself as the driver to beat in 2026.
The young Italian fought a pitched battle for the lead with teammate and polesitter George Russell for the first half of the race, only to see the path to victory cleared when the second Mercedes retired suddenly on Lap 30.
“It was a really fun battle with George, we were pretty much on the limit,” said Antonelli, who became the first F1 driver to have his first four GP wins come consecutively. “It was not easy today with the wind in Turn 10 [the hairpin]; one lap he locked up and I went in front, and then I locked up and he went ahead.”
Antonelli cruised to a 10.786-second victory to take his fourth career F1 win and extend his championship lead to 43 points after five races.
“It was a shame for him to have the failure as we would have had a close battle, but we will take it. A big thank you to the team,” he said. “When I was on my own I had to manage the tires. I had some graining but we had the good pace so now looking forward to the next one.”
Antonelli leads the drivers championship with 150, with Russell second on 88 and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third with 75. In the constructors, Mercedes continues to lead with 219, followed by Ferrari with 147 and McLaren at 106.
For his part, Russell described his reaction to the outcomes as “disbelief.”
“Three out of the last five races, there’s just been something really going against us – just a bit lost for words right now,” he said.
With the battle at the front cut short by Russell’s exit, all eyes turned to the fight for second, with Max Verstappen in the Red Bull working hard to fend off the hard-charging Ferrari driven by Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen got past Hamilton for third on Lap 9 and it looked like the Red Bull would stay there for the race. But Hamilton’s late charge saw them go wheel-to-wheel late in the event as Verstappen worked hard to defend the spot but couldn’t keep the scarlet car behind.
The second step of the podium represents Hamilton’s best race result with Ferrari.
“It is an amazing feeling to be back up here and I actually got to have a race with Max, which was good,” said Hamilton. “It is encouraging, Mercedes brought a big upgrade, we have some more bits coming but considering it is a straight line speed circuit, it gives me encouragement for the races ahead.”
Hamilton got through to second with a nice outside move at Turn 1, with six laps to go, and it then became Verstappen’s turn to chase, but he couldn’t get close enough to make a move stick and settled for third.
“Racing back up front is always better,” said Verstappen. “Cool battle with Lewis, we kept pushing right to the line. To be on the podium is extremely positive, so happy with that.”
Hamilton’s teammate Leclerc crossed the line fourth, with the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar rounding out the top-five.
The race needed three formation laps to get going. One aborted start saw Arvid Lindblad’s Racing Bull stop on the starting grid, which called for a second formation lap. Unfortunately, the marshals could not clear Lindblad’s car from the grid before the field came around again, and another formation lap ensued. The two aborted starts meant the planned 70-lap grand prix reduced the race distance to 68.
Once the green flag flew, Lando Norris launched his McLaren into the lead but his time at the front ended quickly as he pitted on Lap 2 to get rid of his intermediate tires, which turned out to be the wrong choice. His teammate Oscar Piastri also started on intermediates and pitted at the end of the first lap to swap to slicks. Neither recovered, with Norris retiring after 23 laps and Piastri finishing out of the points in 11th.
From there, the Antonelli-Russell show began, with the Mercedes pair going toe-to-toe and keeping the fans on the edge of their seats for 30 laps until the latter’s car expired.
Now riding high as F1 heads to the tight and twisty streets of Monte Carlo, Monaco, Antonelli hopes to keep the momentum going.
“I’m going to keep doing what I am doing,” he said. “We have to keep raising that bar, as George was extremely quick this weekend. And of course Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull will be coming back at us too.”
Canadian Lance Stroll finished 15th in his home race, four laps down.