MONTREAL — Kimi Antonelli has taken victory in a dramatic Canadian Grand Prix, and extended his championship lead to 43 points after Mercedes teammate 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.
“Not really the way I wanted to win if I have to be honest because it was a tough fight with George,” said Antonelli. “It was very intense but I think it would have been cool to see how it would have ended up because we were going at each other.
“We were pushing and I think we both did a lot of mistakes. I think on my side I did a mistake that was a little bit in a crucial moment when I went back in front and started to pull away.
“That was a mistake that if I could have avoided would have been better. For sure was a tough battle, was intense, and of course I felt sorry for him but we’ll take the win and move forward.”
Lewis Hamilton took a strong second place for Ferrari, the seven-time 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.
