Mercedes
Russell had a slow start from pole and lost out to both Antonelli and Norris. With the McLaren man pitting out of the way early on, Antonelli was released – but he soon lost out to Russell, who got in front but could not pull away. That led to lap after lap of fighting, with both drivers locking up, running wide, going side by side, coming close to touching and somehow keeping their battle clean. The lead changed hands multiple times, with Antonelli seemingly slightly faster, while Russell was a bit tidier. But the highly entertaining tussle ended early when Russell parked up with a loss of power, his frustration clear to see as he hit his car in disbelief.
Antonelli was untroubled from there as he drove away to win a fourth consecutive race, extending his lead in the standings over Russell to 43 points.
Kimi Antonelli, 1st
“First of all, massive commiserations to George. I feel very sorry for him as he was leading the race and was super strong. We were having a great battle in that first stint and very close on pace. I am sure it would have gone right until the end of the Grand Prix, and I am disappointed we didn’t get the chance to continue that.
“It was not an easy race for us. The wind was very tricky and with the low temperatures, it was hard to get the tyres working. We had several lock-ups, particularly in the early stages, but fortunately were able to keep it on the track and get to the chequered flag first. It is of course not how we want to win but we will take it. We now get ready for the European portion of the season and six races in eight weekends leading up to shutdown. It will be an intense period, but we are looking forward to it.”
George Russell, DNF
“I am proud of my weekend, no matter that it ended in a retirement today. I took pole for the Sprint, won that race, took pole for the Grand Prix and was leading before we had the Power Unit issue that finished our race. I know there is nothing more I could have done this weekend to perform and that fills me with confidence moving forward into the rest of the season. It is of course a painful way to finish our Canadian Grand Prix weekend, but I will leave here satisfied that I did my best.
“Up until lap 30, I was thoroughly enjoying the race. I loved the battle with Kimi, and I am sure he did too. It was like going back to karting days where you are racing wheel-to-wheel, swapping the lead multiple times. I hope everyone enjoyed watching it as much as I enjoyed being in it. I just wish we could have continued it until the end of the Grand Prix.”
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz ApexF1
“It is always a bittersweet feeling when you win the Grand Prix with one car but the other retires through no fault of the driver. We are very happy as a team to take our fifth victory in a row to start the season. Congratulations to Kimi on his fourth win too; that is no easy feat and shows how much he has progressed this season. Commiserations to George though who put together a superb weekend. He took pole for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix, and won the Sprint itself yesterday, and was leading the race when he had his Power Unit issue. He has had some bad luck so far this year, but we know how resilient he is and how he will bounce back from this. It is a very long season, and we are only at the start of the year.
“It is not always easy to watch your cars battling as they were in the early stages, but it was great racing. It was maybe a little too close for our comfort at times but both George and Kimi raced hard but fair. We had the pace advantage that we were still able to maintain the gap over the chasing pack and that was important. I am sure we will see many more exciting races like this over the year ahead.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“We come away from Montreal with mixed feelings. Well done to Kimi and the team for the win, our fifth to start this year and Kimi’s fourth, but the failure on George’s car is bitterly disappointing. We will work hard to make sure we understand the cause as it’s been very costly for him and the team in terms of points.
“The cold and windy conditions made the race challenging today. We didn’t have any idea how the tyres would behave with such a low ambient and track temperature. The warm-up was certainly difficult but once up to temperature the tyres were working quite nicely. We were also able to quickly identify that the one stop strategy was the best option.
“It wasn’t particularly relaxing watching our pair race in the first stint; the advantage of the overtake mode meant the cars could not separate so they were locked in a dual for the first 30 laps. Whilst it was close, they gave each other room. It did cost them both race time but the advantage over their competitors was enough for them not to be threatened. That fight was brought to an abrupt halt with George’s car coming to a stop with an issue in the battery pack. We don’t have any more information on that at the moment, but it goes without saying we’ll be doing everything we can do understand that ahead of the next race. Thereafter, Kimi’s run to the finish was quite straightforward. We seemed to have a bit of a pace advantage over our competitors, although the margins are small and everyone is developing at such a rate that we will be trying to bring every bit of performance we can to the upcoming races.”
