Antonelli won a very exciting race at the 2026 Canadian GP

Kimi Antonelli achieved his fourth consecutive victory. For many laps in the 2026 Miami GP, he fought for the lead with George Russell, but the Briton retired due to engine failure. The race at the Montreal circuit was very interesting, bringing many direct duels and several big surprises.

Read more Analysis of qualifications before the 2026 Canadian GP

The Canadian GP race was held on a dry track but in very difficult conditions. Earlier rain reduced grip, and the asphalt temperature was about 17 degrees Celsius, which is too low for F1 cars. It was slippery and hard to warm up the tires. Despite several technical problems, a full neutralization was avoided, but there were three virtual safety car periods.

Seven drivers started the race on intermediate tires, which was a big mistake, and they quickly switched to slicks, dropping to the back of the field in the process. It is worth noting that the fifth driver was lapped. The pace difference between the front runners and the rest of the field was very large.

Results of the 2026 Canadian GP

Arvid Lindblad had a car failure on the starting grid, which is why we had two additional formation laps. This race will not count in the statistics for the Briton because he did not start it.

Total McLaren disaster

The course of the race in Canada was a total disaster for the McLaren team, largely caused by themselves. It has been a long time since any team had such a failed performance. This happened on a track where McLaren has been recording poor results since 2013; for some reason, they struggle here. I completely do not understand the idea of starting on intermediate tires. The track was cold and slippery; such tires gave a temporary advantage, but this risk could not succeed. Intermediate tires on a dry track wear out at an express pace. Norris won the start but had to change them after two laps, dropping to the back of the field, just like Piastri, who changed them after one lap. Even if a neutralization had appeared after the first lap, no one from the front would have changed tires, so McLaren drivers would have fallen out of the TOP10.

After changing tires, Norris was making his way through but ran over debris on the shoulder, blocked the brake intake, had to make an additional pit stop, and again dropped to the back of the field. Mid-race, it seemed he would score significant points, but his gearbox failed. After dropping to the back, Piastri made a big mistake attacking Albon, eliminated his rival from the race, and received a 10-second penalty from the stewards. Additionally, he heavily damaged the car, needed an extra pit stop, finished the race but without points due to car damage.

McLaren was the second force in qualifying sessions and the sprint, only Mercedes was better than them. It can be safely assumed that with a normal strategy, Norris and Piastri would have been sure contenders for the podium. They deprived themselves of this with a wrong strategy.

Mercedes drivers’ duel for victory and its consequences

Mercedes drivers delivered a lot of excitement in this race. From the very beginning, they set a very strong pace; it was clear that both were driving at 100%. When Russell and Antonelli were not fighting directly but driving at optimal pace, they gained several tenths of a second per lap over rivals. During their duels, their pace dropped significantly, so drivers in the following positions stayed within a few seconds. Antonelli and Russell were constantly close to each other, attacking and overtaking multiple times. It was very close to a collision, but both behaved well and always left space. There were minor mistakes, mainly locked wheels before the hairpin, related to driving on the limit and trying to gain an advantage there. It is very good that Mercedes allows them to fight and did not issue team orders.

George Russell dropped out of this rivalry due to a battery failure in the engine on lap 29. From that moment, Antonelli drove calmly, had a few seconds lead over rivals, and did not have to drive at 100%. On the last lap, he set the fastest lap, probably wanting to show how much margin he had earlier.

This race will have significant consequences for Mercedes and the world championship. Russell was the fastest in both qualifying and the sprint, but retired from the race due to failure and currently trails by 43 points in the overall standings. The season is still long, but at this moment Antonelli has become the favorite. Canada was supposed to be the place where Russell would make up points. Now we will see how the Italian handles greater pressure, as he has become the favorite. The upcoming races will be decisive; I remind you that Antonelli had a form crisis last year during the European part of the season. After the Canadian GP, Mercedes knows that its drivers are fighting each other and must prepare for future collisions. They have already experienced this during the Hamilton and Rosberg era, so they will know how to behave. The most important thing is to avoid division into two camps within the team.

Hamilton and Verstappen rivalry like in the old days

Russell’s failure and McLaren’s disastrous performance opened the way for a fight for the podium for two old champions. Lewis Hamilton drove his best race in Ferrari colors in Canada, both in terms of result and driving. The Briton really pushed in this race; if anyone used live timing, they saw that he repeatedly set sector records, especially in the second sector. At the start, he was in third position, but on lap nine, Verstappen overtook him. In the following laps, they drove close to each other, but later the gap grew to five seconds when Hamilton went off on the grass. After changing to intermediate tires, Hamilton kept chasing, managed to catch Verstappen at the end, and overtook him with a nice attack. The Dutchman later tried to counterattack but failed.

Verstappen and Hamilton drove this race like in the old days. I also observed that both tried to manage energy use thinking about attack/defense, which added extra uncertainty. Hamilton and Verstappen always show high form in Canada; this track suits them. It seems to me that this will be a breakthrough performance for Verstappen this year. It is clear that the Red Bull car now allows fighting at the front; more upgrades are expected soon. Verstappen himself should revive when the chance to fight at the front appears.

Read more Russell won the sprint before the 2026 Canadian GP

Discussion of other drivers from the top ten and those who retired

Charles Leclerc finished fourth, which considering his overall performance this weekend is a very good result. He took advantage of problems of other front runners. He himself made a big mistake after one neutralization ended, locking all wheels heavily. Therefore, he drove slowly at the end, and his gap to the podium was very large, realistically about 10 seconds.

Isack Hadjar lost the chance for fourth place due to two of his own mistakes. He received a 10-second penalty for dangerous position changes defending against Leclerc, and later a drive-through penalty and 10 seconds stop for improper slowing during a double yellow flag. Hadjar had good enough pace to beat the struggling Leclerc but prevented himself from doing so. He should be praised for fifth place – his best this season.

The Alpine team scored very big points. Franco Colapinto started from tenth, was constantly the “leader” of the second league, as front team drivers quickly pulled away. Pierre Gasly quickly moved into the points positions, taking advantage of many rivals starting on intermediate tires. Alpine drivers did their job, seized opportunities, and had a good strategy. This earned them 12 points. Colapinto has improved a lot recently.

Seventh was Liam Lawson, who literally drove a few seconds behind Colapinto throughout the race distance. There was no chance to fight because the Argentinian was better. Lawson did what was expected and scored significant points for the team. Lawson was more threatened by Gasly, but it was nothing serious. Racing Bulls were strong in Canada, so Lindblad’s car failure is costly for them.

Carlos Sainz should be praised as the only driver who started on intermediate tires and scored points. He suffered huge losses at the start, dropping to 19th place. Then he managed to gain ten positions. He benefited from his direct rivals starting on soft tires and changing them quickly, while he stayed on intermediates until the VSC period with a pit stop.

Oliver Bearman scored one point, who frankly did not have good enough pace but benefited from rivals’ problems. In a normal race, he would have finished far from the points. In Canada, he had the best strategy and did his job while potentially faster drivers retired or made more pit stops.

Six drivers retired from the race. Lindblad before the start due to failure. Alex Albon was rammed by Piastri in the first laps and immediately retired. For Albon, this is the second crash this weekend; in both, he was not at fault, and the financial losses for the team are significant. Alonso pitted due to seat problems (details unknown). Russell had a battery failure, Norris a gearbox failure. Perez retired due to suspension failure, which suddenly broke on the front axle.

Current overall standings after the 2026 Canadian GP can be found here. During the TV broadcast, the wrong classification was given; someone counted Hamilton’s 18 points for second place twice 🙂

Summary

This was the best race of the season with lots of fighting and several surprises. Only the broadcast director disappointed, who did not show many things. Many duels were not shown or were shown with delay in a small window.

In two weeks, the start of the European part of the season from the Monaco GP, where Ferrari should be the favorite. This year’s cars should provide a lot of excitement in qualifying. If the race is again a procession, nothing will help this venue in F1 anymore. Earlier, we will learn the results of the FIA engine performance measurement and who will get the opportunity for additional development thanks to ADUO.

Read more Russell fastest in sprint qualifying in Canada in 2026