Antonelli wins F1 Canadian GP after Russell retirement

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli took his fourth successive win of the 2026 Formula One season in Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix, as teammate George Russell retired from the lead with engine trouble. Antonelli crossed the line 10.7 seconds clear of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton after a bruising intra-team battle with Russell that dominated the opening half of the race. Max Verstappen completed the podium for Red Bull, securing his first top-three finish of the year. Russell's retirement on lap 30 transformed both the race and the championship picture. Fresh from winning Saturday's Sprint race, the Briton started the grand prix from pole position but struggled off the line in cool and damp conditions, allowing McLaren's Lando Norris and Antonelli past into the opening corners. Once Norris pitted early to abandon McLaren's failed gamble on intermediate tyres, the two Mercedes drivers were left to fight head-to-head for the lead. The duel quickly escalated into a fierce wheel-to-wheel contest. Russell reclaimed the lead at the final chicane on lap six after Antonelli ran through the runoff area avoiding contact, but the Italian repeatedly came back at his teammate as both drivers locked brakes and traded mistakes under pressure. Russell twice ran deep into the hairpin while defending, and Antonelli briefly moved ahead several times before either backing out or being instructed to return the position. The tension inside Mercedes became increasingly clear when both drivers were warned by their engineers to keep it tidy or risk being ordered to hold station. Antonelli complained after one incident that Russell had forced him off the track, but obeyed team instructions and handed the place back before resuming the attack. The battle ended abruptly on lap 30 when Russell ran over the grass at Turn 8 and slowed to a halt near the final chicane, climbing angrily from the car after what Mercedes later described as an apparent power-unit problem. The Briton's retirement leaves Antonelli with a commanding 43-point advantage in the standings. Before Russell's exit, Antonelli had begun to appear the quicker of the two Mercedes drivers. Once clear at the front, the Italian controlled the race comfortably to seal another victory in a breakthrough season that is rapidly turning into a title charge. Hamilton's late-race pass on Verstappen provided the other major highlight of the afternoon. Verstappen had earlier overtaken the Ferrari driver with an aggressive move into the opening corner on lap 13 and looked set for second place as Red Bull searched for its first podium of the campaign. But Hamilton closed steadily during the second half of the race, aided by two virtual safety car periods, and finally swept around the outside of Verstappen into Turn 1 with six laps remaining. Verstappen remained within striking distance until the chequered flag, finishing less than half a second behind Hamilton in third. Charles Leclerc finished fourth for Ferrari after a frustrated afternoon in which he at one stage asked his engineer to stop communicating unless necessary. The Monegasque also survived a major snap through the final chicane late in the race but avoided spinning. Isack Hadjar initially battled Leclerc for fourth before receiving penalties, including a stop-and-go sanction for a yellow-flag infringement, but still recovered to finish fifth for Red Bull. Franco Colapinto took a strong sixth for Alpine ahead of Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson in seventh. Colapinto's teammate Pierre Gasly finished eighth, while Carlos Sainz placed ninth for Williams and Ollie Bearman rounded out the top ten for Haas. McLaren endured a frustrating afternoon after both Norris and Oscar Piastri started on intermediate tyres despite a drying circuit. Piastri had warned his team before the delayed start that the strategy was a mistake, but both McLarens stayed on treaded tyres and were forced into early pit stops. Norris briefly recovered into the points before retiring with a suspected gearbox issue, while Piastri received a 10-second penalty after colliding with Williams' Alex Albon and eventually finished 11th. Russell's retirement leaves Antonelli with a commanding 43-point advantage in the drivers' championship, with the Italian becoming the first driver in history to win his first four grands prix consecutively. Leclerc is third, 13 points adrift of Russell. In the Constructors' standings, Mercedes leads with 219 points, with Ferrari second on 147, and McLaren third with 109 points. The sixth round of the 2026 F1 season is the Monaco Grand Prix on June 7.