Kimi Antonelli has taken victory in a dramatic Canadian Grand Prix, and extended his championship lead to 43 points in the process, after Mercedes team mate George Russell was forced to retire on Lap 30 following a power unit issue on his car.
The early stages of the race were dominated by a thrilling battle for the lead between Russell and Antonelli, with some contentious moments between them as the pair swapped positions on numerous occasions.
But the duel came to an end in heartbreaking circumstances for Russell when the Briton suffered a sudden technical issue that forced him to stop on track. A Virtual Safety Car was deployed and much of the field pitted, with Antonelli left holding a solid lead over second-placed Verstappen.
From there the Italian was untroubled at the front, crossing the line with a margin of 10.7 seconds to seal his fourth consecutive win. Lewis Hamilton took a strong second place for Ferrari, the seven-time World Champion overtaking the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in the final laps.
Verstappen held onto third to score his first podium of the season, while Charles Leclerc and Isack Hadjar were fourth and fifth respectively in the sister Ferrari and Red Bull cars. Franco Colapinto continued his good run for Alpine in sixth, and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson just held off the other Alpine of Pierre Gasly as the pair claimed P7 and P8.
Carlos Sainz added to Williams’ tally in ninth, and Haas’ Ollie Bearman sealed the final point on offer in 10th. Oscar Piastri missed out in P11 on what turned out to be a nightmare day for McLaren, with both cars pitting early for slick tyres after their decision to start on the intermediate compound proved to be the wrong one.
The Audis of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto placed in 12th and 13th, ahead of Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin and Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas in 14th through to 16th.
There were five other retirements from the race alongside Russell. McLaren’s difficult day was compounded when Norris stopped after reporting a gearbox issue, the Briton having spent much of the race trying to recover after pitting two laps in from the lead to swap his intermediate tyres for slicks.
Cadillac’s Sergio Perez retired with a suspension failure, while the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso found himself out of the running following a problem with his seat.
Williams’ Alex Albon was eliminated after being hit by Piastri – an incident that Piastri received a penalty for – and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad did not even get to start the race after experiencing a clutch issue on the grid.
More to follow
