Briton dominated this Saturday’s race (23) after an incident with his Mercedes colleague; Lando Norris was second and the championship leader completed the podium
The British George Russell did not give space to his opponents and dominated the sprint race of the Canadian Grand Prix from start to finish this Saturday afternoon (23). The Mercedes driver closed the gap to partner Kimi Antonelli and scored eight points in the standings. Lando Norris finished in second place and the young Italian in third.
That was the third victory of Russell in sprint races. The test was marked by dispute between Mercedes drivers in the first few laps. Kimi Antonelli got the worst of the fight and was unable to get close to the race lead.
The first laps started with broad dominance of the two Mercedes drivers. Unlike other races, Italian Kimi Antonelli managed to maintain a good pace at the beginning of the race and accompanied his partner George Russell. Lando Norris, from McLaren, was closely observing the fight.
However, the atmosphere between the Mercedes competitors heated up around the 6th lap. That’s because Kimi Antonelli tried to steal first place, but had the doors closed by George Russell and they both ended up colliding in one of the corners. The Italian lost strength and ended up falling behind, overtaken by third-placed Lando Norris.
On the radio, the young competitor complained a lot about his teammate and opponent and asked for punishment for the Brit. “This should be a punishment. I was side by side with him”, asked Antonelli.
The dispute between the first places was concentrated between Russell and Norris. The Mercedes competitor held on to the lead with all his might. A little further back, Antonelli was trying to recover after the shock in the first laps and managed to contain the advances of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, from Ferrari.
On the last lap, Kimi Antonelli tried to steal second position from Lando Norris, but ended up leaving the track for the third time in the race. Even so, the Italian secured third place to gain six points. While George Russell won his third career sprint race.
At the other end of the race, the Brazilian Gabriel Bortolettofrom Audi, which started from 11th position, ended up doing badly and was surpassed by other competitors. The São Paulo driver reached 16th place, but managed to regain some of his rhythm and finished in 13th place, but ended up 12th after punishment for Sergio Pérez.
Qualifying training for the main race takes place at 5pm this Saturday. The start of the Canadian GP is scheduled for 5pm this Sunday (24).
Located in Montreal, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is the headquarters of the fifth Formula 1 GP of 2026. Right now, Kimi Antonelli has 106 points and remains in first place. Rival and team partner George Russell closed the gap and took 88 points.
