Formula 1: Antonelli wins again in Canada – drama about Russell

Formula 1 in Canada

Wild race: Antonelli historical – drama about Russell

The two Mercedes drivers have a thrilling duel at the top. In the end, the young high-flyer prevails – and George Russell is very unlucky. The race gets off to a chaotic start. A team experiences a debacle.

Kimi Antonelli remains the high-flyer of this young Formula 1 season: The 19-year-old won the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday and celebrated his fourth victory in the fifth race. What’s more: The Mercedes driver is now the first driver in the history of the “premier class” to celebrate his first four race victories in a row.

Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) came second in the race in Montreal ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull). Antonelli’s teammate George Russell, who fought a tough duel with the Italian for a long time, ultimately retired with engine failure. “I’m at a loss for words,” said Russell after his departure from Sky, “it was actually a good weekend.” He “really enjoyed the intense duels, it was hard, that’s what this is all about.” Before the next race in Monaco (June 7th), Antonelli is now 43 points ahead.

For McLaren, however, it was a completely ruined race. Oscar Piastri only finished eleventh, world champion Lando Norris did not see the checkered flag after a defect. Meanwhile, Nico Hülkenberg drove an unremarkable race in the Audi: the only German in the field ended up finishing twelfth, thus missing out on the points.

Curious: The start of the race was delayed because the traffic lights malfunctioned.

For days in Montréal the weather played a big role on race Sunday, rain actually seemed inevitable – but like recently in Miami after similar announcements, everything wasn’t as bad. It had rained in the morning, the track then dried out, and yet the weather forecast continued to cause uncertainty.

There were a few drops before the start, and so many teams opted for intermediate tires, including McLaren – a big mistake, as it would soon become clear. Although Norris overtook both Mercedes after an excellent start from third position, he had to correct his tire choice a little later and came into the pits for slicks. The same applied to Hülkenberg in the Audi, who fell far back from eleventh place on the grid.