Kimi Antonelli won the 2026 Canadian GP after George Russell retired from the lead with a power unit failure, turning a fierce Mercedes duel into another statement victory for the Formula 1 championship leader.
The teenager took his fourth consecutive Grand Prix win at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, extending his advantage in the standings after a race that began in mixed conditions, exploded into chaos through strategy and reliability drama, and ended with Antonelli controlling the final stint.
Lewis Hamilton finished second for Ferrari after a late battle with Max Verstappen, passing the Red Bull driver into Turn 1 before holding him off to the flag. Charles Leclerc was fourth, with Isack Hadjar fifth despite penalties during a busy race for the stewards.
Franco Colapinto produced a standout drive to finish sixth for Alpine, ahead of Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz and Ollie Bearman, who completed the points.
But the central story was Mercedes. Russell looked on course to win after taking pole, winning the Sprint and leading the Grand Prix, only for his car to shut down just after half distance. That left Antonelli clear to take another win, even if he admitted it was not the way he wanted to do it.
“Thank you everyone, not the way I wanted to win,” Antonelli said over team radio. “Was going to be a good fight with George, but yeah, we will take it.”
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Mercedes battle lights up early Canadian GP laps
The race began with a major tyre split. Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Nico Hulkenberg, Gabriel Bortoleto and Sainz all started on intermediates, while the front row Mercedes pair chose used soft tyres.
That gamble briefly looked inspired for McLaren, as Norris launched into the lead at the start. But the track was already too dry, and the decision quickly unravelled. Piastri radioed that the intermediates were a mistake, and both McLaren cars were forced into early stops.
That handed control to Antonelli, who jumped Russell at the start, with Hamilton in the fight behind and Verstappen soon moving up to third.
Russell quickly recovered. On Lap 7, he forced Antonelli into a lock-up and reclaimed the lead, but the fight was far from over. The two Mercedes cars repeatedly traded pressure, lock-ups and near misses, with Antonelli later getting ahead before being told to hand the position back after running wide.
The tension came just 24 hours after their Sprint Race clash, but this time the racing was hard and mostly clean. Russell had track position, Antonelli had pace, and Toto Wolff had given them permission to race.
“It was a really fun battle with George, we were on the limit and it was not easy today with the wind,” Antonelli said after the race. “One lap he locked up and I went in front, and then I locked up and he went ahead.
“It was a shame for him to have the failure as we would have had a close battle, but we will take it. A big thank you to the team.”
Russell retirement changes the Canadian GP
The race turned on Lap 31. Russell suddenly slowed, pulled off the track and retired from the lead. He threw his headrest aside and slammed both fists into the nose of the car, knowing exactly how costly the failure could be in the championship.
“Just everything turned off all of a sudden,” Russell said. “Engine stopped, no electronics. A bit lost for words.
“I’m proud of my weekend. Pole in the Sprint, won the Sprint, pole, leading when I stopped. Nothing more I could have done this weekend. I’m pretty damn frustrated with what happened.”
The Virtual Safety Car that followed allowed Antonelli and most of the field to pit. From there, the race became far more straightforward for the 19-year-old. He built a gap of more than five seconds, then nearly 10 seconds, and never looked seriously threatened again.
Further back, chaos continued. Piastri was given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision after contact with Alex Albon, who later stopped. Norris reported a reliability issue and dropped out of points contention on a miserable day for McLaren.
Fernando Alonso retired with a seat problem, Perez limped back to the pits with damage, and Hadjar was handed penalties for a yellow flag infringement and an aggressive defence against Leclerc.
Still, Hadjar had enough pace and enough of a gap to keep fifth, underlining a much stronger race for Red Bull after a difficult qualifying.
Hamilton beats Verstappen to second
With Antonelli gone up front, the final major fight was for second.
Verstappen had driven a strong race after a frustrating Saturday, but Hamilton began closing quickly in the final stint. The Ferrari driver repeatedly asked for more power and looked stronger through the corners, even if Verstappen was difficult to pass on the straights.
The move finally came on Lap 61, when Hamilton attacked into Turn 1 and swept around the outside. Verstappen left him room, and the seven-time world champion completed one of his best moves since joining Ferrari.
His tyres faded late, allowing Verstappen to come back at him, but Hamilton held on by half a second for his best Grand Prix finish of the season.
“It is an amazing feeling to be back up here and I actually got to have a race with Max which was good,” Hamilton said. “Ah man I love this track, I can’t wait to come back!
“It is encouraging, Mercedes brought a big upgrade, we have some more bits coming but considering it is a straight line speed circuit, it gives me encouragement for the races ahead.”
Verstappen was also encouraged after taking his best result of the year.
“I had some cool battles out there,” Verstappen said. “Racing back up the front is always better. Cool battle with Lewis, we kept pushing right to the line. To be on the podium is extremely positive, so happy with that.”
In the cooldown room, the pair continued their discussion like two drivers who had clearly enjoyed the fight.
“Once you get by, to clear someone out of that one second…” Verstappen said.
“I couldn’t shake you,” Hamilton replied.
“And then you had some bad traffic,” Verstappen added, before Hamilton pointed to Red Bull’s strength down the back straight.
Antonelli makes it four in a row
Antonelli’s celebration was more muted than his previous wins. He knew Russell had been unfortunate, but the result could still prove huge in the title race.
With victory in Canada, the Mercedes youngster has now won four consecutive Grands Prix and continues to build a remarkable early championship lead. If there was any doubt that he had become the central figure of the 2026 season, Montreal offered another answer.
The race was not perfect. He locked up, ran wide and came under severe pressure from Russell in the opening half. But when the opportunity arrived, he took control.
“When I was on my own I had to manage the tyres, as I had some graining but we had the good pace so now looking forward to the next one,” Antonelli said.
Asked about the coming races, he added: “Keep doing what I am doing. We have to keep raising that bar, as George was extremely quick this weekend. And of course Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull will be coming back at us too.”
That may be true, but the championship picture is becoming clearer. Russell had the weekend he needed until reliability intervened. Hamilton and Verstappen returned to the podium fight. McLaren suffered
