Antonelli claims Canadian GP for fourth straight F1 win after Russell exits

MONTREAL — Kimi Antonelli went from furious to victorious in Montreal.

A day after he and George Russell collided in a heated sprint race, the Formula One leader prevailed in a wild Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday for his fourth straight win after his teammate retired with an engine failure.

The title-chasing Mercedes drivers put on a show in a thrilling fight through 30 laps, trading the lead several times and coming dangerously close to making contact.

Then disaster struck for Russell, giving Antonelli a clear path to the finish — and a commanding championship lead.

“It was a really fun battle, to be fair, with George. We were pretty much on the limit,” Antonelli said from the racetrack. “It was very close and it was a shame for him to have the failure because it would have been a very cool battle.

“But we’ll take it.”

A 19-year-old Italian sensation, Antonelli finished more than 10 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton to join multi-time world champions Fernando Alonso, Max Verstappen and Hamilton as the only active drivers to win four consecutive races.

Antonelli opened up a 43-point advantage over Russell in the drivers’ standings through five of 22 stops this season after also claiming victories in China, Japan and Miami.

Russell’s exit marked a nightmare end to an otherwise stellar weekend for last year’s Montreal winner, who took Saturday’s sprint race from the pole and started first on Sunday while under pressure to shave points off his younger teammate’s lead.

Once his power unit died, the 28-year-old Brit threw his headrest across the track and slammed his fists into the front of the car before leaving the circuit, whipping his gloves to the ground in rage.

Russell said he wished he’d had “40 more of those laps” to battle Antonelli.

“I loved it. I thought it was great, and I’ve not had a battle like this in years,” he said. “Right now (the championship) is his to lose, so many points ahead. It feels like the gods don’t want me to be in this fight.

“Pressure’s off. Go out, enjoy every single race, try and win every single race and I’ve got nothing to lose.”

The spotlight shifted to two longtime rivals once Russell’s day ended, as Hamilton chased down Verstappen in a throwback to 2021.

The seven-time world champion finally overtook Verstappen for second with six laps to go in cold and windy conditions at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, earning his best result since joining Ferrari last year.

“It’s been pretty tough for the past year and a bit, so to finally find our sweet spot and have a good weekend, it’s an amazing feeling,” the 41-year-old Hamilton said. “And actually got to have a race with Max, which is great.”

“Absolutely awesome to fight with one of the greats,” he later added.

Verstappen, a four-time F1 champion, reached the podium for the first time this season.

“It was my first race where I basically had a normal race,” he said. “Nothing crazy happened.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished fourth, followed by Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar to fill out the top five.

McLaren’s day turned ugly after both drivers started in the second row. Lando Norris was forced to retire with a gearbox issue on Lap 40, while teammate Oscar Piastri placed 11th after a team strategy to start on intermediate tires backfired.

It spat rain much of the day as temperatures hovered around 14 C, but the inclement weather subsided before the race.

Norris flew from third to first off an exciting start on the drying track, only to switch tires three laps in. That ceded the lead to Antonelli, who’d also moved past Russell following the pole-sitter’s poor start.

Russell regained the lead on the seventh lap with a clean overtake as Antonelli nearly hit his teammate from behind after his wheels locked up, rolling off the track.

The fighting continued into Lap 12 as Antonelli advanced to first, only for Russell to re-take his position before fending off multiple overtake attempts five laps later.

The exchanges persisted until Russell’s engine blew out.

“A couple of times it was maybe a little bit on the edge, but we were going at each other,” Antonelli said. “We were both pushing and we both wanted to win. And I think for everyone watching it was pretty entertaining.”

The Mercedes drivers had gone head-to-head all weekend in the fastest cars on the grid, with Russell edging Antonelli by 0.068 seconds in both the sprint and race qualifying sessions.

Tensions reached a tipping point early in the sprint race when they made contact on Antonelli’s overtake attempt, as Russell kept his line and forced Antonelli into the grass.

Antonelli lost his cool over the team radio, calling the move “very naughty” before demanding a penalty.

Stewards did not investigate the incident, but Antonelli had the last laugh Sunday.

The Canadian GP took place weeks earlier than its traditional mid-June slot as part of an F1 calendar designed to reduce travel.

The race intersected with a Canadiens playoff run for the first time, with bleu-blanc-rouge colours blending with Ferrari red and McLaren orange downtown and across the paddock, creating an especially vibrant atmosphere in the city.

Some 360,000 fans, including FIFA president Gianni Infantino in a Canadiens jersey, attended the three-day event, with spectators braving the rainy weather to fill the grandstands on Sunday.

The prestigious Monaco Grand Prix, set for June 7, is next on the F1 circuit.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 24, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press