Kimi Antonelli won an action-packed Canadian GP to score his fourth straight victory this season. With his Mercedes teammate George Russell retiring from the race due to a power unit issue, Antonelli has now further stretched his lead in the drivers’ championship standings.
Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, pulled off a late-race overtake on Max Verstappen to finish second.
- Antonelli wins, 10.768 seconds ahead of Hamilton
- Verstappen P3, followed by Leclerc in P4
Canadian GP: Antonelli wins fourth consecutive race
The opening stage of the race saw both Antonelli and Russell locked in a thrilling battle for the lead, with both Mercedes drivers swapping positions several times. However, this battle came to an early end when Russell suddenly stopped on Lap 30 due to a power unit issue.
With his teammate out of the race, Antonelli enjoyed a clean run to victory, crossing the chequered flag with an advantage of 10.768 seconds. “First of all, massive commiserations to George. I feel very sorry for him as he was leading the race and was super strong. We were having a great battle in that first stint and very close on pace. I am sure it would have gone right until the end of the Grand Prix, and I am disappointed we didn’t get the chance to continue that,” said Antonelli.
“It was not an easy race for us. The wind was very tricky, and with the low temperatures, it was hard to get the tyres working. We had several lock-ups, particularly in the early stages, but fortunately were able to keep it on the track and get to the chequered flag first.”
Hamilton overtakes Verstappen for P2
Hamilton looked in good form all weekend. The seven-time F1 world champion passed Verstappen on Lap 62 and defended the position in the closing laps to clinch second place.
“It’s been a really positive weekend on my side. I felt at one with the car from the first laps in practice, and while qualifying didn’t quite go our way, the pace was there,” Hamilton reflected on his Canadian GP weekend.
“The fight with Max was intense and enjoyable; that’s why we race, and it shows the progress we’re making. The upgrades we brought in Miami worked well, and we’ll keep building on this momentum and stay focused on the journey ahead.”
Charles Leclerc finished fourth in the second Ferrari, followed by Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who had to serve two penalties. Franco Colapinto once again secured a points-scoring finish, claiming P6 for Alpine, while Liam Lawson fended off Pierre Gasly to hold on to seventh place. Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman rounded out the top 10.
No points for McLaren
The Canadian GP ended up being a disastrous race for McLaren, despite showing promising pace. The team opted to start both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on intermediate tyres. With the track drying rapidly, Piastri even radioed in on the formation lap, saying the intermediates were “a mistake”.
“We opted for intermediates five minutes before the start because the track was greasy, and it was still raining. Unfortunately, the rain stopped as soon as the tyres went on, the track dried quickly, and two extra formation laps took away any advantage,” explained McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.
As the race got underway, Norris enjoyed a good launch off the line. But both McLaren drivers pitted within the opening two laps to switch to slick tyres, dropping down the order in the process.
Piastri’s day went from bad to worse when he locked up at the hairpin and hit Alex Albon’s Williams. Albon was forced to retire as a result, and Piastri was slapped with a 10-second time penalty for the incident. Norris, meanwhile, was forced to stop once again due to a reliability issue and eventually pulled out of the race with a suspected gearbox problem.
2026 F1 championship standings
Antonelli has further consolidated his lead in the 2026 F1 drivers’ championship. After five rounds, he is 43 points ahead of his Mercedes teammate Russell.
Leclerc remains third overall, 13 points behind Russell. But fourth-placed Hamilton has now closed the gap and is just three points behind his Ferrari teammate.
