ANTONELLI WINS IN CANADA AFTER RUSSELL FAILS TO FINISH

Formula One arrived in Montreal, Canada for round five of this years World Championship with all the talk focused on George Russell and how this is such an important weekend for the British driver. It looked as though it was going to be George's weekend with victory in the Sprint and pole position on Saturday but it didn't quite go Russell's way in the end. Antonelli makes it four wins in a row for young Italian teenager ahead of the man he replaced, Lewis Hamilton coming home in second and Max Verstappen in third for his first podium of the year.

Before we got started it was all over for Arvid Lindblad whose Racing Bull failed to get into gear on the initial lights out but with the RB having to be pushed back into the garage, we were forced into two extra formation laps.

It was an unexpected leader as we came into turn one as the McLaren of Lando Norris leads into turn one after a brilliant getaway from third place ahead of Antonelli and Russell now in third despite the McLaren being on the intermediate tyres! Hamilton is fourth and Piastri has dropped down to fifth.

At the end of the first lap Oscar Piastri is quick to pit and get rid of his intermediate tyres after the two extra formation laps left the McLaren drivers wondering why they had been put on wet weather tyres with a mostly dry track. Then on lap two it was the same story for Lando Norris who pitted as expected. Antonelli now leads the race ahead of Russell and Hamilton in third.

The third change of the lead came on lap six when Russell takes over into the final chicane with Kimi locking up into the final corner before the chicane.

The second DNF came thirteen laps on when Alex Albon was hit in the side pod and is out of the race after contact with the McLaren of Piastri who is in the pits to fix his front wing.

On lap twenty two the lead went back the way of Kimi Antonelli who takes the lead of the race on the back straight, using the back markers to his advantage, one of the Cadillac drivers slowing to get out of the way almost accidentally gets in the way of Russell.

But just two laps later Antonelli locks up and gives Russell the lead back, in what has been some fantastic racing between teammates - it was very reminiscent of prime Hamilton v Rosberg back in the first era of Mercedes dominance. It was like watching Bahrain 2014 all over again.

On lap twenty seven Alonso's race is finished as the Aston Martin driver is retired from the race, reportedly due to an issue with his seat.

Then on lap thirty it all fell apart for Russell who comes to stand still after some of the best racing we have seen this year. Something on his car has broken and killed all hopes of ruining his teammates momentum. The loss of George in this race really ruined what could have been a generational race and one that would have gone down in history.

The VSC is deployed to recover Russell's stricken Mercedes.

The day gets worse for McLaren in a race they will want to forget in hurry as on lap forty Lando Norris retires from the race with a suspected gearbox issue.

The final retirement came just three laps later on lap forty three when the Cadillac of Sergio Perez has his front right wheel hanging off as he limps into the pits after the suspension simply snaps and he is out of the race for his first DNF this season.

Hamilton showed the pace many expected the Ferrari's to have this weekend, while Verstappen will likely be delighted to get Red Bull's and his first podium of 2026.

And Kimi Antonelli extends his title lead to forty two points. He couldn't could he?

The next race is the Monaco Grand Prix.

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