The Canadian Grand Prix was an incredibly dramatic race, one that ended with Kimi Antonelli securing his fourth Grand Prix victory in a row and is now leading the Championship by 43 points after his teammate George Russell was forced to retire due to an issue with his Mercedes. It was Lewis Hamilton who took second place, and Max Verstappen placed third in what is his first podium of 2026. Meanwhile, McLaren had a race to forget, which we’ll cover in depth down below. Read further for all the highlights from this chaotic and eventful Canadian Grand Prix.
McLaren, Lindblad issues, Albon Piastri, Russell and Antonelli, Hadjar penalty but otherwise good race and max third, Alpine amazing race
- Nightmare of a Race for McLaren
- McLaren were looking to be the top team that could challenge Mercedes, but things started going downhill for the team from the beginning, when their tire strategy set them up for early pitstops. Both Norris and Piastri ran intermediate tires for the start of the race, which was a gamble that did not pay off, as the expected rain failed to come. With all their rivals on softs, the two McLaren drivers were forced to pit, and had to climb their way through the field. However, things did not stop there, as Piastri suffered from contact with Alex Albon that caused the Williams driver to retire, and Piastri to pit once more. Norris later had to come into the pits again due to a reliability issue but was promptly sent back out. The issue did not disappear, unfortunately, and the reigning World Champion was forced to retire from the Canadian Grand Prix for a second year in a row. Piastri was unable to climb back into a points position, and the whole race will be one to forget for the Woking-based team.
- Only Sixteen Drivers Saw the Checkered Flag
- Norris and Albon were two of the drivers that suffered retirements, but there were four others who also failed to finish the Grand Prix. Arvid Lindblad was unable to even start the race, after he couldn’t start the car on the grid. Two extra formation laps were completed while mechanics rolled Lindblad’s Racing Bulls back into the pits, which meant the 70-lap race changed to 68. Alonso was also forced to retire, after running in a decent position, while Perez suffered damage to his Cadillac and couldn’t finish the race. George Russell was one of the more dramatic retirees, but we’ll cover that next.
- Russell vs. Antonelli
- The start of the Grand Prix saw Antonelli overtake Russell and Lando Norris take the lead, but, since the McLaren driver pitted shortly into the race, Kimi Antonelli emerged as the driver in P1. From there it was an intense battle between the Italian driver and his teammate, with the pair overtaking each other multiple times. However, the battle came to an abrupt halt after George Russell experienced an issue with the car that saw him drive over the grass and stop the car, triggering a virtual safety car. It was a devastating result for the Briton, and one that will leave him even further adrift from his teammate in the Championship battle. On the other side of the garage, it was an incredible result for Antonelli, as the young driver secured his fourth win in a row and is looking increasingly confident leading the rest of the field.
- Solid Grand Prix for Red Bull
- Max Verstappen had been running second after Russell’s incident but eventually crossed the line in third after Lewis Hamilton managed to chase him down and perform an overtake in the final stages of the race. Regardless, it was Verstappen’s first podium of 2026, something that will bring some hope to the team after what wasn’t their best start to the season. Isack Hadjar also had a strong result, finishing fifth behind Charles Leclerc. The two did have a little spat on the track, which led to Hadjar being handed a ten-second time penalty. However, he was still able to take P5 due to being far enough ahead of Colapinto in sixth.
- Colapinto and Gasly in P6 and P8 for Alpine
- Another team that had a strong race was Alpine. The team secured a double points finish after Colapinto finished sixth and Gasly crossed the line in eighth after failing to get past the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson. Alpine are continuing to cement their title of best of the rest in 2026, and Pierre Gasly is now sitting in eighth in the Drivers’ Championship. Their closest rival is currently Racing Bulls, but, as Alpine is currently 14 points ahead, all they have to do is keep up the good form to stay fifth in the Constructors’ Championship.
