Too early to be decisive yet but without doubt George Russell was left cursing his damnable luck as his world championship ambitions took a body blow in Montreal. The British driver was left angry and disconsolate as his Mercedes ground to halt on track at the Canadian Grand Prix and his teammate and title-rival Kimi Antonelli powered to a record-breaking victory
Russell must be wondering what he has to do to catch a break in what increasingly looks like a two-way title fight with his Italian teammate. He had claimed victory in the sprint race, then pole and then had an absolutely gripping, toe-to-toe with the 19-year-old for the opening 29 laps on the Île Notre-Dame.
The pair had circulated within half a second of one another, trading the lead, repeatedly in what was an exemplary piece of racing. Russell had to pull some superb, resolved, defensive driving and Antonelli was as always an irrepressible force, a joy to behold. To and fro they darted against one another, neither perfect, both drivers suffered lock-ups and minor errors but neither could take a decisive advantage. It was glorious stuff with nothing to choose between them.
The prospect of it heading to the flag as such was mouthwatering, only for Russell’s world to fall apart in a scant few seconds. Out of nowhere he suddenly slowed and pulled off on lap 30 with an engine failure.
An understandably angry Russell hurled his headrest from the car and stalked from it in disgust. He was left behind the fence, staring at the marshals pushing his stricken ride away and shaking his head in disbelief and frustration as Antonelli scampered off into a now unchallenged lead he held to the flag.
It was impossible not to sympathise with the British driver as team principal Toto Wolff understood when he came out to put his arm round him when he returned to the paddock. Russell had fought hard and a win or a second would have been well deserved, instead the weekend where had hoped to close on his teammate’s championship lead was left shattered.
Eighteen points behind before the race, Russell is now a full 43 back and when interviewed afterwards he admitted he could make no sense of this cruel fate in Montreal.
“I’m a bit lost for words,” he said. “I’ve got to be honest, I’m proud of my weekend: pole for the sprint race, won the sprint race, pole for the main race, I had a good battle with Kimi. From my side I don’t think there was any more I could do.
“Of course I’m pretty frustrated by what’s happened but what more could I do?”
Antonelli deserved the victory but would have enjoyed taking it to the end in a real scrap with his teammate, noting it was not the way he wanted to win. With it however the Italian has now taken four in a row after victories in China, Japan and Miami. A striking start in only second year in the sport. Indeed he is now the first driver to have scored his first four wins in the sport in succession.
He once more demonstrated great skill, although his impetuousness was on display too but as team principal Toto Wolff has noted he would rather try to rein-in a charger than encourage a donkey. In Montreal such was the intensity of the fight between the two teammates Mercedes were almost forced to bring them both to heel.
That the pair are going to be going at hard for the world championship this year is clear. They came together in the sprint race on Saturday, with Antonelli furious when he felt Russell has squeezed him off track. Mercedes held discussions with them afterwards with both declaring all was well between them but on Sunday they were at it again.
As part of their gripping scrap, on lap 23 Antonelli locked-up at the hairpin, Russell pounced and the pair then brushed up against each other, trading paint at the final chicane. Antonelli went off and gained the place, which he was forced to give back, aggrieved believing that his teammate had squeezed him off again. “He pushed me off. I was ahead, What’s the point?,” he said.
Mercedes promptly told their drivers to “tidy up the racing” with nerves jangling on the pit wall as the pair were warned the team would intervene if they did not. Mercedes’ rules of engagement seem clear that they are free to race but cannot hit one another, an edict that may be increasingly hard to follow if the contest between them remains as tight going into the next 17 races as it was in Montreal.
It may have come to an intervention on Sunday, only for fate to remove Russell from the equation. A long night lies ahead for the British driver then as he contemplates what might have been. Too early to be decisive yes but the scale of the task now looms large and Antonelli showed in Canada that he will contest every metre of every lap in the process. A prospect to savour on the form from Montreal.
Lewis Hamilton scored his best result for Ferrari after a superb fight with Max Verstappen to claim second from the Dutchman in the closing stages, while Verstappen was in fine form to take his first podium of 2026 for Red Bull.