F1 Canadian GP: Russell wins sprint after Antonelli clash

George Russell kept his cool and prevailed in the Montreal F1 sprint race, as Kimi Antonelli desperately tried – and failed – to snatch the win away

A calm and collected George Russell triumphed in the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix sprint race, as Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli endured two trips across the grass in the battle for victory.

Mercedes, which locked out the front row ahead of the McLarens, Ferraris and Red Bulls, maintained its advantage at the start as polesitter Russell led Antonelli, despite the Silver Arrows having previously suffered from sluggish getaways in 2026.

The only change among frontrunners was Lewis Hamilton going around the outside of Oscar Piastri in Turn 2 for fourth, as Lando Norris stayed third and Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar still made up the top eight.

Antonelli started pressuring Russell on lap five, and attacked on the next tour around the outside in Turn 1, but he was given no room by Russell and cut through the grass.

Antonelli wasn’t giving up and launched another attempt at Turn 8 but braked too late and bounced across the grass, losing second place to Norris. “That was very naughty,” the Italian complained of Russell.

George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

Briefly challenged by Hamilton, Antonelli pulled away and eventually closed the gap to Norris, who himself was pressuring leader Russell. The sophomore attacked the McLaren on the last lap, around the outside in Turn 1, but couldn’t make the move stick, so the top three remained unchanged.

Hamilton had to withheld pressure from Piastri and eventually collapsed to sixth on the last lap, behind the Australian and Ferrari team-mate Leclerc. Verstappen finished seventh.

Hadjar ended up three laps down after two pitstops, meaning Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad collected the last available point after completing the race on hard tyres.

Further back, Lance Stroll finished highest of all five cars which started from the pitlane, having encountered a front suspension issue shortly before the start. Valtteri Bottas, Oliver Bearman, Alexander Albon and Pierre Gasly were in the same starting situation but were outraced by the Aston Martin.

F1 Canadian GP - sprint race results

SPRINT

All Stats

Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points	Retirement	Chassis	Engine
1	G. Russell Mercedes	63	23	-			10		Mercedes	Mercedes
2	L. Norris McLaren	1	23	+1.272 1.272	1.272		9		McLaren	Mercedes
3	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	23	+1.843 1.843	0.571		8		Mercedes	Mercedes
4	O. Piastri McLaren	81	23	+9.797 9.797	7.954		7		McLaren	Mercedes
5	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	23	+9.929 9.929	0.132		6		Ferrari	Ferrari
6	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	23	+10.545 10.545	0.616		5		Ferrari	Ferrari
7	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3	23	+15.935 15.935	5.390		4		Red Bull	Red Bull
8	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41	23	+29.710 29.710	13.775		3		RB	Red Bull
9	F. Colapinto Alpine	43	23	+31.621 31.621	1.911		2		Alpine	Mercedes
10	C. Sainz Williams	55	23	+36.793 36.793	5.172		1		Williams	Mercedes
11	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	23	+1'01.344 1'01.344	24.551				RB	Red Bull
12	G. Bortoleto Audi	5	23	+1'01.814 1'01.814	0.470				Audi	Audi
13	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	23	+1'04.209 1'04.209	2.395				Haas	Ferrari
14	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11	23	+1'10.402 1'10.402	6.193				Cadillac	Ferrari
15	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27	23	+1'12.158 1'12.158	1.756				Audi	Audi
16	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	22	1 lap					Aston Martin	Honda
17	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77	22	1 lap					Cadillac	Ferrari
18	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	22	1 lap		1			Haas	Ferrari
19	A. Albon Williams	23	22	1 lap		1			Williams	Mercedes
20	P. Gasly Alpine	10	22	1 lap		1			Alpine	Mercedes
21	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6	20	3 laps		2			Red Bull	Red Bull
dnf	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	15			2		Retirement	Aston Martin	Honda
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