2026 F1 Canadian Grand Prix Recap

By Ryan Wu

Having already secured a sprint race win and starting from pole, George Russell looked to take the double over the weekend and eat into his teammate Kimi Antonelli’s Championship lead. Unfortunately for the British driver, a loss of power on lap 30 forced his retirement from the race after a back-and-forth battle amongst the two Mercedes.  Antonelli won his fourth race in a row, extending his Championship lead to 43 points.

Race Recap

McLaren opted to start both drivers on intermediate tires to begin the race. This gamble looked to pay off early as Lando Norris had an amazing start to claim first place within the first corner up from third place. Oscar Piastri made a pit stop just after one lap and Norris followed on lap two as it was immediately clear that slick tires would be more than sufficient in the rapidly drying conditions.

Piastri required a wing change on lap 13 as he collided into the side of Alex Albon, resulting in a 10-second penalty for the Australian and forcing the Williams driver to retire from the race.  

A back and forth between Antonelli and Russell then followed for two dozen laps as they narrowly avoided colliding on multiple occasions with multiple overtakes and retakes occurring between the two. When Russell retired from the lead on lap 30 he was visibly frustrated and robbed viewers of a potential dramatic race finish as Antonelli cruised to victory winning by 10.7 seconds.

Lewis Hamilton overtook Max Verstappen on lap 62 to claim second place and his second ever podium while the Dutchman took the last podium spot.

It was a miserable day for McLaren as Norris retired from the race due to a gearbox issue and Piastri finished just outside of the points in 11th place.

Racing Refresh Driver of the Day

Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Final Points Finishing Positions

1st:  Kimi Antonelli

2nd: Lewis Hamilton

3rd: Max Verstappen

4th: Charles Leclerc

5th: Isack Hadjar

6th: Franco Colapinto

7th: Liam Lawson

8th: Pierre Gasly

9th: Carlos Sainz

10th: Oliver Bearman

Next on the F1 Schedule:

Monaco Grand Prix: June 05-07