Formula 1 in Canada
Mercedes dispute in the sprint: World Cup leader swears
May 23, 2026 – 6:52 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
In the sprint from Canada it’s hot at the front. The two Mercedes drivers insist. While one of them wins, the other complains on the radio.
Kimi Antonelli complains, George Russell wins – and Toto Wolff has to speak out: The Formula 1 sprint in Canada brought the first loud discord in the still young title duel at Mercedes. Russell ultimately prevailed in the short race on Saturday ahead of world champion Lando Norris in the McLaren, with Antonelli coming third. The championship leader couldn’t get past Russell with two hard attacks and then complained extensively about his teammate on the radio.
“Kimi, we’re discussing this internally, not over the radio,” team boss Wolff told the Italian after crossing the finish line. Little happened in terms of the World Championship standings, Russell came two points closer and is now 18 points behind Antonelli – but it was also a victory for self-confidence, which could be important with a view to the qualifying on Saturday evening and the Grand Prix on Sunday (both at 10 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online). Antonelli had clearly set the tone in recent months and won three Grand Prix in a row.
Behind him, Oscar Piastri took fourth place in the McLaren ahead of Charles Leclerc and record world champion Lewis Hamilton in the two Ferraris. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) came seventh, Nico Hülkenberg in the Audi only ended up in 15th place.
This is how the race went:
Both Mercedes got off to a good start at the start, Russell kept his lead ahead of Antonelli. Together the duo drove away from the field by more than three seconds in the first five laps, but Antonelli was obviously the faster. The Italian got closer and closer, and things got serious on lap six: Antonelli made his first attack in turn one, but had to move onto the grass and prepare the next attack. This followed in the last chicane, but Antonelli shot past the braking point and was bumping over the curbs and the grass again.
The teenager blamed Russell for this, “that was very bad, that should be a punishment, I was next to him,” Antonelli radioed. His race engineer tried unsuccessfully to calm him down. “I don’t care,” Antonelli shouted: “He pushed me away.” The situation only calmed down after a word of power from Wolff. “Kimi, concentrate on driving, not on whining on the radio,” said the Austrian.
Antonelli had lost his second place to Norris due to the maneuvers, but tried until the end to get the position back – and took another ride on the last lap.
