Kimi Antonelli Wins in Canada After George Russell Retires From Their Duel

MONTREAL. Kimi Antonelli won the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday for his fourth straight victory, after Mercedes teammate George Russell retired with a power unit issue while the two fought for the lead. Antonelli finished 10.768 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.

Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull Racing, his first podium of the season. Antonelli's championship lead grew to 43 points.

"It was a really fun battle to be fair with George," Antonelli said. "We were pretty much in the limit and it was not easy today with the wind. Very gusty, Turn 10 was very difficult. I think one lap he locked up and then I went in front and locked up. 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, I mean, we take it."

A wet start and a McLaren gamble

Rain fell before the start, and teams split on tyres. Arvid Lindblad's Racing Bulls car stalled on the grid with a clutch issue, so an extra formation lap cut the race to 68 laps, and he did not start.

McLaren started both cars on intermediates. Lando Norris made a lightning launch into the lead, but he pitted for slicks after two laps and Oscar Piastri stopped after one. Piastri said on the radio that the intermediates were a mistake.

The Mercedes duel

That left Antonelli and Russell, who had won Saturday's Sprint (opens in a new tab) after clashing with his teammate, to fight it out. Russell passed Antonelli before the last chicane, and Antonelli locked up and ran off the track. The lead then changed hands several times through lock-ups and late moves.

Antonelli took the lead into the last corner on Lap 22, but locked up two laps later and Russell went back in front. Antonelli then ran off the track while passing again and was told to give the place back. "Why mate, he pushed me off and I was already ahead?" he asked on the radio, but he complied.

On Lap 30, Russell slowed suddenly and stopped on track. The Virtual Safety Car came out, most of the field pitted, and Antonelli rejoined with a 4.6 second lead over Verstappen. He was not threatened again.

Hamilton catches Verstappen

Hamilton closed on Verstappen after a third Virtual Safety Car on Lap 53 and passed him around the outside into Turn 1 on Lap 62. Verstappen stayed about half a second behind to the flag.

Charles Leclerc was fourth. Isack Hadjar kept fifth despite a 10-second penalty for changing direction more than once and a stop and go penalty for a yellow flag infringement. Franco Colapinto was sixth for Alpine, Liam Lawson held off Pierre Gasly for seventh, and Carlos Sainz and Ollie Bearman of Haas took the last points.

Piastri finished 11th after a 10-second penalty for hitting Alex Albon's Williams, which put Albon out. Norris retired with a possible gearbox issue, completing a pointless day for McLaren.

Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto were 12th and 13th for Audi, ahead of Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas. Sergio Perez retired his Cadillac with a suspension failure, and Fernando Alonso stopped with a seat problem.

Monaco is next, on June 5 to 7.

For more, see Formula 1's race report (opens in a new tab).

This was Round 5 of the 2026 season. It came after Antonelli's Miami Grand Prix win and before Antonelli's Monaco Grand Prix win. For the full title picture, see our 2026 F1 standings breakdown.

Sources: Formula 1. More Formula 1 coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team via X