Antonelli wins dramatic Canadian GP as Russell retires

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What is F1 TV?F1 GlossaryGet involved2026 RegulationsNewsVideosRussell in ‘disbelief’ over dramatic Canadian GP retirementAntonelli wins dramatic Canadian GP as Russell retires OFFICIAL GRID: Who starts where in CanadaLiveLIVE COVERAGE: Antonelli wins thrilling Canadian Grand PrixPlay1:02Bearman admits ‘I feel like we didn’t really deserve that today’ after P10 finish 1:23Albon reckons Piastri ‘just got caught out’ in collision that ended Albon’s race Alexander AlbonFernando AlonsoKimi AntonelliOliver BearmanGabriel BortoletoValtteri BottasFranco ColapintoPierre GaslyIsack HadjarLewis HamiltonNico HulkenbergLiam LawsonCharles LeclercArvid LindbladLando NorrisEsteban OconSergio PerezOscar PiastriGeorge RussellCarlos SainzLance StrollMax VerstappenAll Drivers Hall of FameTeamsChevron DropdownAlpineAston MartinAudiCadillacFerrariHaas F1 TeamMcLarenMercedesRacing BullsRed Bull RacingWilliamsAll TeamsFantasy & GamingChevron DropdownF1 Sim RacingFantasyF1 25F1 Manager 24F1 PredictF1 ClashF1 Members' AreaMenuFIA if(window.f1MobileDetection.iOSSafari) { var meta = document.createElement("meta"); meta.name = "apple-itunes-app"; meta.content = "app-id=835022598, app-argument=https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-wins-dramatic-canadian-grand-prix-as-russell-retires-amid-thrilling-mercedes-battle.MzvclJaqCidlYMUXonuDq.MzvclJaqCidlYMUXonuDq"; document.head.appendChild(meta); } {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-wins-dramatic-canadian-grand-prix-as-russell-retires-amid-thrilling-mercedes-battle.MzvclJaqCidlYMUXonuDq","url":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-wins-dramatic-canadian-grand-prix-as-russell-retires-amid-thrilling-mercedes-battle.MzvclJaqCidlYMUXonuDq","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-wins-dramatic-canadian-grand-prix-as-russell-retires-amid-thrilling-mercedes-battle.MzvclJaqCidlYMUXonuDq","datePublished":"2026-05-24T21:57:14.193Z","dateModified":"2026-05-24T21:57:14.193Z","headline":"2026 Canadian Grand Prix race report and highlights: Kimi Antonelli wins dramatic Canadian Grand Prix as George Russell retires amid thrilling Mercedes battle","author":"F1","description":"Kimi Antonelli has extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship after winning the Canadian Grand Prix, with Mercedes team mate George Russell forced to retire with a power unit issue.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://media.formula1.com/image/upload/t_16by9North/f_auto/q_auto/v1779659447/trackside-images/2026/F1_Grand_Prix_of_Canada/2278030644.jpg"},"isAccessibleForFree":"true","publisher":{"@type":"SportsOrganization","@id":"https://www.formula1.com#organization","name":"Formula 1","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.formula1.com/etc/designs/fom-website/social/f1-default-share.jpg","width":"480","height":"120"}}}CanadaRace2026Antonelli wins dramatic Canadian Grand Prix as Russell retires amid thrilling Mercedes battleKimi Antonelli has extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship after winning the Canadian Grand Prix, with Mercedes team mate George Russell forced to retire with a power unit issue. Kimi Antonelli has taken victory in a dramatic Canadian Grand Prix, and extended his championship lead to 43 points in the process, after Mercedes team mate George Russell was forced to retire on Lap 30 following a power unit issue on his car. The early stages of the race were dominated by a thrilling battle for the lead between Russell and Antonelli, with some contentious moments between them as the pair swapped positions on numerous occasions. But the duel came to an end in heartbreaking circumstances for Russell when the Briton suffered a sudden technical issue that forced him to stop on track. A Virtual Safety Car was deployed and much of the field pitted, with Antonelli left holding a solid lead over second-placed Verstappen. From there the Italian was untroubled at the front, crossing the line with a margin of 10.7 seconds to seal his fourth consecutive win. Lewis Hamilton took a strong second place for Ferrari, the seven-time World Champion overtaking the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in the final laps. Verstappen held onto third to score his first podium of the season, while Charles Leclerc and Isack Hadjar were fourth and fifth respectively in the sister Ferrari and Red Bull cars. Franco Colapinto continued his good run for Alpine in sixth, and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson just held off the other Alpine of Pierre Gasly as the pair claimed P7 and P8. Carlos Sainz added to Williams’ tally in ninth, and Haas’ Ollie Bearman sealed the final point on offer in 10th. Oscar Piastri missed out in P11 on what turned out to be a nightmare day for McLaren, with both cars pitting early for slick tyres after their decision to start on the intermediate compound proved to be the wrong one. FORMULA 1 LENOVO GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2026 The Audis of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto placed in 12th and 13th, ahead of Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin and Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas in 14th through to 16th. There were five other retirements from the race alongside Russell. McLaren’s difficult day was compounded when Norris stopped after reporting a gearbox issue, the Briton having spent much of the race trying to recover after pitting two laps in from the lead to swap his intermediate tyres for slicks. Cadillac’s Sergio Perez retired with a suspension failure, while the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso found himself out of the running following a problem with his seat. Williams’ Alex Albon was eliminated after being hit by Piastri – an incident that Piastri received a penalty for – and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad did not even get to start the race after experiencing a clutch issue on the grid. After a busy weekend of track action at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve – which included an entertaining third Sprint of the campaign on Saturday – it was time for Round 5 of the season, the Canadian Grand Prix. All eyes were on the skies as the paddock assembled prior to Sunday’s event, given that the weather forecast had predicted a good possibility of rain on race day. While it had been spitting during the morning on and off, the showers appeared to have gotten heavier again as the start of the race neared, with plenty of umbrellas up as the drivers and teams prepared on the grid in increasingly cold temperatures. Russell was set to start from pole position and would be hoping to continue his solid form seen earlier in the weekend, having already converted pole into victory for the Sprint. Team mate Antonelli, however, would line up alongside him, meaning that it was very much all to play for after their clash in the 100km dash. One alteration to the starting order had been made ahead of the race, with Stroll confirmed to start from the pit lane after elements on his power unit were changed under parc ferme conditions. Given the mixed conditions, there were question marks over which tyres the pack would opt for – and it was subsequently revealed when the tyre blankets were removed that a mixture of compounds had been selected, with the McLarens, Audis, Cadillacs and the Williams of Sainz going for the intermediates, while Lawson, Lindblad and Colapinto had bolted on the mediums and the rest of the field had gone for the softs. An extra formation lap was confirmed at the start after Lindblad’s car stalled due to a clutch issue on the grid, with the pack going around for a lap while the Racing Bulls machine was cleared before another formation lap followed. This would reduce the race distance to 68 laps. The changing conditions sparked some conversation at McLaren during the extra lap, Piastri having radioed in to say that the intermediates were a “mistake”. But that would have to wait as the field lined up for the start – and when the lights went out, a lightning launch from Norris saw the Briton run alongside the Mercedes pair before storming into the lead. Russell lost a position to drop back to third behind his team mate, while Hamilton had overtaken Piastri for fourth. That order quickly changed as Piastri dived into the pits at the end of the first lap, swapping to the medium tyres and dropping towards the rear of the pack. There was further action in the McLaren pit box when the second tour concluded, with the Briton also stopping for the medium rubber and falling back to P14. Russell was looking racy as he tried to find a way past his team mate, but the championship leader defended to hold P1. Meanwhile the rest of the intermediate runners had pitted for slicks. A big moment for Norris saw the reigning World Champion run over the grass, with his race engineer admitting that they might be “going very long” with their strategy. Five laps down, Antonelli continued to lead from Russell, Hamilton, Verstappen, Leclerc, Hadjar, Colapinto, Lawson, Bearman and Alonso. F1FacebookXInstagramYouTube© 2003-2026 Formula One World Championship Limited