Antonelli Survives Mercedes Battle to Win 2026 Canadian GP

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Andrea Kimi Antonelli survived a battle against Mercedes teammate, George Russell to take victory at the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix. 

Antonelli lost the lead to Russell on lap 6 then twice swapped positions until Russell retired on lap 30 with a power unit failure, which left the 19-year-old to cruise to a fourth consecutive victory and became the first Italian to achieve that feat since Alberto Ascari in 1952.

Lewis Hamilton passed Max Verstappen on lap 62 to achieve his first second-placed finish in Canada.

Charles Leclerc and Isack Hadjar rounded out the top five ahead of Franco Colapinto who achieved his best F1 result yet in sixth place, whilst Pierre Gasly, Liam Lawson, Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman rounded out the top ten.

In the drivers’ standings, Antonelli extended his title lead over Russell to 43 points heading into Monaco on weekend of 5-7 June.

Pre-race drizzle left the grid with a variety of tyre strategies from soft to medium tyres, whilst seven drivers including McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri opted for the intermediate tyres only for the drizzle to stop shortly before the formation lap.

The first start however was aborted after Racing Bull’s Arvid Lindblad suffered a gearbox failure, before a delayed second attempt was aborted, but Russell eventually got a slow start on the third attempt as Norris blasted into the lead from the inside line from Antonelli and Russell.

Hamilton meanwhile cleared Piastri who pitted at the end of that lap for medium tyres due to the dry track conditions, which left Norris to follow suit a lap later to ruin McLaren’s hopes of a podium finish.

Antonelli consequently inherited the lead but was passed by Russell on lap 6 into the final chicane, but locked up under braking and almost punted into his teammate at high speed but both escaped unscathed.

The Mercedes pair briefly swapped positions on lap 13 before Russell on lap 17 ran deep into the hairpin but outbraked Antonelli into the final chicane to retain his lead.

Antonelli eventually cleared Russell into the final chicane on lap 22 for the lead but was repassed at the hairpin two laps later, only for the pair to bang wheels into the final chicane which saw Antonelli cut the corner to take the lead.

He however gave the lead to Russell on the next lap and kept the Brit under pressure until Russell’s power unit suddenly failed into Turn 7 on lap 30, which forced him to pull over at the next corner much to his anger as a brief Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed.

Much of the grid subsequently used the VSC to make a cheap pit stop. during which Hadjar jumped Leclerc for fourth,

Norris meanwhile recovered to eighth on lap 36 but suffered a gearbox failure into Turn 10 just four laps later to end a difficult race.

Up front, Antonelli comfortably controlled the race unchallenged to the checkered flag to extend his title lead over Russell ahead of the European leg of the season.

Antonelli also became the first Italian since Ascari to claim four straight F1 victories – with Ascari having achieved that feat as part of a nine-race streak across 1952 & 53 seasons – excluding 1953 Indy 500 which wasn’t ran to F1 rules despite counting towards the latter championship.

Verstappen looked set for a lonely second-placed finish until Hamilton reeled him in with ten laps to go and passed the four-time champion for second round the outside of Turn 1, which he held to the checkered flag to record his first runner-up finish in Canada.

Position Driver Team Laps Time
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 68 +
2 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 68 + 10.768
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 68 + 11.276
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 68 + 44.151
5 Isack Hadjar Red Bull 68 + 1 Lap
6 Franco Colapinto Alpine 68 + 1 Lap
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 68 + 1 Lap
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine 68 + 1 Lap
9 Carlos Sainz Williams 68 + 1 Lap
10 Oliver Bearman Haas 68 + 1 Lap
11 Oscar Piastri McLaren 68 + 2 Laps
12 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 67 + 2 Laps
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 67 + 2 Laps
14 Esteban Ocon Haas 67 + 2 Laps
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 67 + 4 Laps
16 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac 67 + 4 Laps
RET Sergio Perez Cadillac 41 Suspension
RET Lando Norris McLaren 39 Gearbox
RET George Russell Mercedes 29 Power
RET Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 26 Seat
RET Alex Albon Williams 11 Damage
RET Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 0 Gearbox

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