George Russell Retires From Lead of Canadian GP as Antonelli Wins Fourth Straight Race

Kimi Antonelli extended his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings after Mercedes teammate George Russell was forced to retire from the lead of the Canadian Grand Prix.

Before Russell’s car suddenly lost power halfway through lap 30, the pair had put on a stunning display of racing, trading positions multiple times throughout the opening laps.

This is now Antonelli’s fourth win in a row, which puts the Italian 43 points ahead in the championship.

The title race seemed to be exploding for the first time before Russell’s retirement, which robbed the Brit of a potential 25-point haul and fans of watching an incredible battle between the two, which would’ve been the second in the space of 24 hours after tensions rose in Saturday’s spring race.

For the second day in a row, Antonelli complained about Russell’s driving, accusing him of pushing him off the track.

Moments before Russell suffered a suspected engine issue, both drivers were warned by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff to keep the racing “tidy” or they would have to hold position for the remainder of the Grand Prix.

Before that, there had been several laps of frantic action, and Antonelli appeared to have a pace advantage at the time Russell retired.

With Russell out, that paved the way for Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to contest second place with the seven-time world champion pipping the Dutchman late on.

Russell made a slow start from pole, Antonelli passed the Brit, and McLaren’s Lando Norris swept by both Mercedes into the lead from third on the grid.

Norris, who had started the race on intermediate tyres, pitted on lap two, leaving Antonelli initially leading a five-car train of Russell, Hamilton’s Ferrari, Verstappen and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Russell soon began to apply pressure on Antonelli and the Briton took the lead at the final chicane on lap six, Antonelli being forced to take evasive action through the run-off area as they entered the corner side by side.

Russell soon began to hunt down the teenager, with him taking the lead at the final chicane on lap six with the Italian being forced to drive through the run-off area to evade a physical collision with Russell.

Russell appeared relatively comfortable in the lead for a few laps, until he locked up his front brakes into the hairpin on lap 12, allowing Antonelli to get past him, only for Russell to reclaim the lead into the final corner.

Five laps went by before Russell again locked up at the same hairpin, allowing Antonelli to get past for the lead down the straight towards the final chicane, only to make his own mistake at the hairpin two laps later and let Russell back into the lead.

Antonelli came back at him on the outside into the chicane and was slightly ahead as they turned in, but he had to take to the run-off area.

Returning to the race in the lead, Antonelli was ordered by the team to give the place back because he had passed off the track.

Antonelli complained, saying: “Why? He pushed me off.” But he did what he was told, before trying again at the chicane, only for Russell to hold him off.

This was the point at which both drivers were effectively told to cool it by the team, and the fight calmed down considerably before Russell’s retirement.

McLaren’s early tyre choices meant second place came down to a tussle between the two most successful active drivers in F1, who have 11 Drivers’ Championships between them.

Verstappen initially trailed Hamilton’s Ferrari but passed with an audacious move into the first corner on lap 13.

The Red Bull moved clear of Hamilton, but in the second part of the race, helped by two virtual safety cars, the seven-time champion was on Verstappen’s tail, and they went into the closing stages of the race just a second adrift.

Hamilton demanded more power from his racing engineer, but he kept his patience, and at the start of lap 62, with six to go, he finally made it through, with a superb move around the outside of the Red Bull into the first corner.

Verstappen came back at the Ferrari, challenging into the first corner a lap later and pressured him for the rest of the race, but Hamilton held on for his best result for Ferrari in a grand prix, and Verstappen took his first podium of the year in third.

Hamilton’s team-mate Leclerc took fourth after a subdued weekend, and a race in which he had a massive moment out of the final chicane but managed to hold the car without spinning.

Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar took fifth place despite a late stop-and-go penalty for a yellow flag infringement, ahead of Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Williams’ Carlos Sainz, and the Haas of Oliver Bearman, who took the final point in 10th.