Antonelli wins fourth straight race as Russell retires from Canadian GP lead

Kimi Antonelli extended his Formula 1 championship lead to 43 points over team-mate George Russell by winning the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Sunday, after Russell’s Mercedes suffered a power unit failure on lap 30 while leading the race.

The two Mercedes drivers had been locked in an aggressive battle for the lead across the opening half of the race, trading positions repeatedly and making contact at the final chicane on lap 24. Antonelli briefly passed Russell off the track and was ordered to hand the position back — but the argument became moot when Russell’s car died at Turn 9 shortly afterwards. Russell climbed out of the stricken car in visible fury, watching a first race win since the Australian season opener slip away while his 20-year-old team-mate cruised to a fourth straight victory.

“Lost for words,” was how Russell described his retirement as Antonelli crossed the line.

Behind Antonelli, both McLarens endured a disastrous afternoon that began with a misjudged decision to start on intermediate tyres on a track that was only marginally damp. As the field completed two additional formation laps — caused by trouble for Arvid Lindblad’s Racing Bulls — Oscar Piastri openly questioned the tyre call, and both he and Lando Norris were forced into early pit stops for slicks despite Norris briefly holding the lead at the start.

Dropped into the midfield, Piastri then collided with Williams’ Alex Albon at the hairpin, sending Albon into retirement and earning Piastri a 10-second penalty and a pit stop for a new front wing. Norris’ afternoon ended even earlier, retiring on lap 40 at the same hairpin with a suspected gearbox failure. The resulting virtual safety car gave the frontrunners a free window to switch from softs to mediums in what became a straightforward one-stop race after the forecast rain never arrived.

With McLaren eliminated from contention, Max Verstappen ran second from fifth on the grid until Lewis Hamilton, driving for Ferrari, passed him into Turn 1 at the start of lap 62. Hamilton finished 10 seconds behind Antonelli, with Verstappen third. Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar fought over fourth, with Hadjar receiving a 10-second penalty for weaving on the straights.