Formula One fans gathered at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, located on Notre Dame Island in Montreal, for some racing action. The 2026 season marks the first time the venue has hosted a sprint format race weekend, giving everyone a teaser of what lies ahead on Sunday.
George Russell had a good start from pole position. Although teammate Kimi Antonelli didn’t have the greatest start, he managed to carry enough speed into the first corner to avoid any challenge from the cars behind. Directly behind, Lewis Hamilton managed to skirt around the outside of Oscar Piastri in the second corner, promoting himself to P4 behind Lando Norris.
Although the opening laps were relatively orderly, the action heated up on lap six. Antonelli, now right on the gearbox of his teammate, tried a bold move on the outside of the first corner. The space disappeared, and Antonelli had to take evasive action by cutting through the grass. The battle continued down to the turn eight chicane, where Antonelli was sent bouncing across the grass again, losing a position to Norris in the process.
In the closing half of the race, Antonelli began applying pressure to Norris, while Russell managed to build a small gap. The top three bunched up in the closing laps as Russell lost a little time overtaking the lapped traffic. But Russell was never really under threat as the race came to a close.
Antonelli had been staring at the back of Norris’ McLaren for much of the race. He made a last-ditch effort to regain P2, trying a lunge on the outside of the first corner. He couldn’t get slowed down, again cutting the corner and returning the position. He had to settle for P3.
There was some frustration over Antonelli’s radio, as he complained about his earlier battle with his teammate. He was instructed by the team to discuss it privately after the race, not during the race. The tension will surely be high for tomorrow’s grand prix.
But the race wasn’t all about the top three. There was some good action in the battle for P4. Lewis Hamilton had held the position since the first lap, but Oscar Piastri made a bold overtake in the final chicane, which also allowed Charles Leclerc to promote himself to P5.
The sprint race is only the beginning of the action in Montreal. The full Canadian Grand Prix will be held tomorrow.
| 1 | K. Antonelli | 106 |  | |
| 2 | G. Russell | 88 | -18 | |
| 3 | C. Leclerc | 63 | -43 | |
| 4 | L. Norris | 58 | -48 | |
| 5 | L. Hamilton | 54 | -52 | |
| 1 | Mercedes | 194 | | |
| 2 | Ferrari | 117 | -77 | |
| 3 | McLaren | 106 | -88 | |
| 4 | Red Bull | 32 | -162 | |
| 5 | Alpine | 23 | -171 | |
