We will leave it to history to reveal to us, in due time, whether what happened this Saturday during the sprint of the 2026 F1 Canadian Grand Prix is the starting point of a new tense rivalry for the world title. But, in any case, it is certain that neither George Russell nor Kimi Antonelli gave their part to the dog in the fight for victory.
After a takeoff which, a rare thing this year, saw the two Mercedes retain their starting position, Antonelli quickly put his teammate under pressure. Then, from the end of the fifth round, the skirmish really began.
Of course, the most notable moment of this was the first turn of the sixth lap where, trying to take advantage of his teammate from the outside to be on the inside of turn 2, the Italian was forced to go off the track to avoid contact with his face. to the authoritarian defense of a Russell determined to stop the bleeding of points in the general classification.
The duel then continued until turn 8, where a somewhat desperate attempt by Antonelli resulted in another escape into the grass and, this time, a lost position to Lando Norris.
The rest of the race did not change the positions on the track but the championship leader did not mask, on the radio, his dissatisfaction with what he experienced as an illegal off-track pile-up. However, the commissioners did not intervene, unlike Toto Wolff in a hurry to calm his driver so that he could concentrate on the race.
At the end of this short test, Antonelli showed himself to be relatively diplomatic but did not fail to emphasize a need for clarification on the part of Mercedes.
“Obviously we have meetings before the races”a déclaré Antonelli. “Then, of course, we race to win and we try to do our best to defend our position. I probably interpreted the meaning of this meeting a little differently.”
“Emotions were very high at the time and I was obviously very upset. But I just have to double-check and, of course, we’ll discuss it and clarify it.”
Quand Motorsport.com Asked if he would change his approach against Russell if the Briton’s defense remained within the limits authorized by the team, Antonelli replied : “Okay yes.”
“I think we probably just need a little bit of clarity. And once that’s clear, we’ll be fine, I think. The main thing for the team is that there’s no contact, that we don’t collide, which almost happened today in the end.”
With Filip Cleeren
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