Kimi Antonelli went from furious to victorious as the 19-year-old Italian star won a wild Canadian Grand Prix for his fourth straight victory, a day after clashing with Mercedes teammate George Russell in a heated sprint race.
Russell dropped out with an engine failure after the title-chasing Mercedes duo put on a show in a thrilling fight through 30 laps, trading the lead several times and coming dangerously close to making contact in the race.
Then trouble struck for Russell, giving Antonelli a clear path to the finish – and a commanding championship lead.
“It was a really fun battle, to be fair, with George. We were pretty much on the limit,” Antonelli said. “It was very close, and it was a shame for him to have the failure because it would have been a very cool battle. But we’ll take it.”
Antonelli finished more than 10 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
Antonelli opened a 43-point lead over Russell through five of 22 races. After Russell won the season-opening race in Australia, Antonelli won in China, Japan and Miami, and now Montreal.
Russell’s exit marked a nightmare end to an otherwise stellar weekend for the Montreal winner last year. He took the sprint race from pole on Saturday and started first on Sunday.
Once his power unit died, the 28-year-old English driver threw his headrest across the track and slammed his fists into the front of the car before leaving the circuit, whipping his gloves to the ground in rage. Russell said he wished he had had “40 more of those laps” to battle Antonelli.
“I loved it. I thought it was great, and I’ve not had a battle like this in years,” he said. “Right now [the championship] is his to lose, so many points ahead. It feels like the gods don’t want me to be in this fight.
“Pressure’s off. Go out, enjoy every single race, try and win every single race, and I’ve got nothing to lose.” The spotlight shifted to two longtime rivals once Russell’s day ended, with Hamilton chasing down Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in a throwback to 2021.
The seven-time world champion finally overtook Verstappen for second with six laps to go in cold and windy conditions at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for his best result since joining Ferrari last year.
“It’s been pretty tough for the past year and a bit, so to finally find our sweet spot and have a good weekend, it’s an amazing feeling,” the 41-year-old Hamilton said.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth, followed by Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar.