Antonelli takes fourth consecutive victory as Russell suffers frustrating exit after a thrilling early race battle

Credit: Formula One

After yet another long wait, Formula One in 2026 finally returns, the fifth round of the season being held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada.

The third sprint weekend of the year saw George Russell reign dominant across both qualifying sessions and the sprint race but his run came to a frustrating end on race day as he was forced out of contention with a Power Unit failure.

After constantly scrapping with Russell for the lead, Antonelli swiftly took control of the race following his teammate's retirement to seal a historic fourth consecutive victory from Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in a dramatic Canadian Grand Prix.

Here's how the thrilling race panned out.

Race Report

As the cars lined up for the race start, the first shock of the afternoon were the vast variety of tyre choices across the field due to spots of rain. The top two Mercedes were on softs, with the McLarens behind them both on intermediates — while everyone else around them had opted for the slicks.

Drama started early as two extra formation laps were ordered after Arvid Lindblad, due to start ninth, stalled on the grid and was gradually pushed to the pitlane. Throughout this duration, Oscar Piastri vocalised his doubts of remaining on the intermediates, but McLaren stuck to their guns.

When the five red lights finally went out, Lando Norris had an electric start and seized the lead from Russell, while the polesitter dropped to third behind Antonelli. Piastri meanwhile lost positions to Lewis Hamilton, and soon decided to pit — something Norris would soon have to consider, his pounce for the lead going in vain due to their tyre gamble. 

Sure enough, Norris peeled into the pits on Lap 2, promoting Antonelli to the lead, but Russell powered through by a hair’s breadth to retake the race lead from the championship leader but Antonelli quickly managed to grab it back.

Meanwhile, Norris had rejoined in 14th, no doubt miserable at throwing away a straightforward shot at the win.

By Lap 5 of 68 — two laps cancelled in the extra formation laps — the top 10 was occupied by Antonelli, Russell, Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Isack Hadjar, Franco Colapinto, Liam Lawson, Oliver Bearman and Pierre Gasly.

Two laps later, Russell passed Antonelli for the lead into Turn 13, Antonelli narrowly avoiding slamming into his teammate’s car as he locked up and ran wide. Russell then remained in control of the race, Antonelli struggling with flatspotted tyres.

Right behind the top two, Verstappen made an easy move on Hamilton for third at Turn 1, the Ferrari driver immediately complaining that he had no power to fight back.

Further back, the midfielders were scrapping for the final points, Bearman facing a lock-up that let Gasly through to tenth followed by Norris sailing past both to climb up to ninth.

Back at the front, it was an exhilarating game of pass-and-repass between Russell and Antonelli, the two drivers swapping the lead between each other into Lap 14. That very lap, the yellow flag came out after contact between Piastri and Albon at the hairpin, the McLaren driver slamming into Albon after locking up in an attempt to pass Bearman.

Albon was immediately out of the race, the second retirement of the day following Lindblad, while Piastri boxed for a front-wing change. McLaren’s day unraveled further as Norris was called into the pits too for a tyre change after reliability issues due to running over the grass patch.

On Lap 17, the Mercedes pair came within an inch of each other once more, but Russell remained in first despite Antonelli having a fair few sniffs of the lead. 

On Lap 22, Antonelli finally made a decisive move on his teammate after lap after lap of build up and back-and-forth battling. 

While this tense battle unfolded, Piastri was dealt with a 10-second time penalty for the collision with Albon. Back to the Silver Arrows’ dogfight, Antonelli opened the door to Russell but a contentious moment of contact saw the Italian driver run wide, having to give Russell the position back.

While the third retirement of the day was Fernando Alonso, all eyes were on Russell and Antonelli once more — the pair having exchanged the lead between themselves an absurd number of times in just 28 of 68 laps.

The defining moment of the race, and perhaps of the entire championship, came on Lap 30 as Russell careened across the grass and came to a halt on track after a sudden failed Power Unit. The non-stop scrapping with Antonelli came to a bitter end for Russell who climbed out of the car, furious and visibly raging. 

The Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was called out, giving everyone the opportunity to take a cheap pitstop. The top 10 with green flag conditions returning was led by Antonelli, followed by Verstappen, Hamilton, Hadjar, Leclerc, Colapinto, Lawson, Gasly, Norris and Carlos Sainz.

As the race resumed, Leclerc began to attack Hadjar for fourth, the Ferrari driver nearly slamming into Hadjar as he firmly closed the door for Leclerc into the final corner.

Meanwhile, Russell was noted for an investigation regarding his conduct as he got out of his stricken car, throwing his headrest in frustration onto the track. With Russell out of the way, Antonelli quickly began to eke out his advantage in the lead, pulling nearly seven seconds ahead of Verstappen.

Leclerc finally made the move on Hadjar after the Frenchman faced a small lock-up, while further down the field, Norris became the fifth retirement of the race with a gearbox issue. Norris’ curtailed race was the latest in a desolate race day for McLaren, Piastri’s 10-second penalty still looming over the Australian driver in 11th.

Another retirement came on Lap 43, Cadillac’s Sergio Pérez pulling in with a skewed front suspension. Meanwhile, Hadjar collected a 10-second time penalty for a change of direction more than once in his earlier fight with Leclerc. As it stood, the penalty was inconsequential for the Red Bull driver, with 41 seconds between him and Colapinto in sixth.

On Lap 46, a momentary VSC was instated to collect debris near the pit entry. With 20 laps to go and six drivers out of the race, the likes of Sainz and Bearman were set to capitalise hugely on the misfortune of others – both drivers in ninth and 10th respectively.

Another penalty was handed out, this time for Valtteri Bottas who was noted for speeding in the pitlane. 

As the race progressed, Antonelli was comfortably in the lead by six seconds, the remaining podium spots occupied by Verstappen and Hamilton — Hamilton confident over the radio of chasing second.

His teammate Leclerc was less happy over the radio, complaining to his race engineer of talking too much during the racing laps, frustratedly stating: “Let's stop speaking until the last lap, you tell me the last lap and anything completely critical.”

Yet another VSC came out on Lap 53 to clear more debris around Turn 12. Just as we returned to green flag racing, Leclerc had a heart-in-mouth moment as he saved his car from spinning out of Turn 14.

His teammate Hamilton meanwhile was now within a second of Verstappen, 10 laps remaining for the seven-time world champion to catch one of his greatest rivals for second.

As the laps steadily ticked down, the key battle on track continued to be between Verstappen and Hamilton, the Ferrari driver inching closer and closer but not having enough top speed to commit to the move.

Hamilton finally made the move on Lap 62 for second into Turn 1, making the pass stick as he began to pull away from the Red Bull car.

The second Red Bull of Hadjar meanwhile had been dealt with a stop-and-go penalty for a yellow flag infringement, but again, the penalty had no lasting effect on his fifth place given the huge gap to Colapinto.

With two laps remaining, Gasly was chasing Lawson for seventh, while Verstappen had pulled close to Hamilton once more after the pair lapped Gabriel Bortoleto. Yet a lockup from the Dutchman saw any chances of putting up more of a fight for second quickly disappear.

Up ahead, Antonelli secured his fourth consecutive win of the season, while Hamilton secured his best result with Ferrari in second and Verstappen took his first podium of 2026.

The rest of the points scorers after a dramatic Canadian Grand Prix were Leclerc in fourth, then Hadjar, Colapinto, Lawson, Gasly, Sainz and Bearman.

Up Next

F1 heads to one of motorsport’s famed three crown jewels next, the Monaco Grand Prix set to be held from 5th to 7th June following a week’s break.