#F1: @GeorgeRussell63 fends off @LandoNorris, #Antonelli to capture #CanadianGP Sprint victory.

Russell Canadian Sprint Victory – Mercedes’ George Russell survived attacks from McLaren’s Lando Norris and earlier team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli to claim the first-ever Canadian GP Sprint victory.

This was the third Sprint win for Russell who started on used mediums and stood his ground to hold on.

When the 23-lap Canadian GP F1 Sprint began, pole-sitter Russell got a great start to cover team-mate Antonelli into turn one as the latter covered the two McLaren’s.

Behind them, Hamilton made his way around the outside of Piastri into turn two to jump into fourth place.

The beginning of lap two saw Russell’s lead at 0.6 seconds over team-mate Antonelli with Norris third, Hamilton fourth, Piastri fifth, Leclerc sixth, Verstappen seventh as Hadjar rounded out the top eight points’ places.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who had an emergency push into the pit-lane made it out there to race and was running in last place.

Lap three – That gap out-front between the two Mercedes of Russell and Antonelli was down to just 0.5 seconds. Norris was already 1.9 seconds behind the teenage championship leader.

Hamilton was tucked up behind World Champion Norris, and Piastri was keeping the Ferrari honest.

The fourth lap – Antonelli had Overtake mode in use, and he was using it but to no avail – as the gap to his team-mate remained around 0.6 seconds. And he was in the dirty air too, so that would start to hurt his C4 medium tyres.

Mercedes were on used tyres – heavily used too to the tune of six tours. But that did not hurt them at the start one bit.

Lap 5 – Further back, Norris was 2.8 seconds adrift and holding Hamilton and Piastri at bay.

“Engine problem,” radioed Hadjar, who was dropping backwards. That promoted Lindblad into the points.

The sixth tour – Antonelli was pressuring Russell, he made his move into the first corner, they bang wheels and Antonelli was pushed onto the grass. He somehow held onto second, and now a few corners later the cameras cut to Antonelli back on the grass again after attempting another move. And that one costed the Italian a place.

The seventh lap – Russell survived two big attacks there from his Italian team-mate and he remained in the lead. Norris was second, as Antonelli furiously lamented on the radio that that “should be a penalty, I was alongside!”

“Let’s get this back under control, focus on Norris,” Bono said trying to calm Antonelli down.

“I don’t care; he pushed me out!” cried Antonelli.

Lap eight – “Kimi, concentrate on the driving please, not on the radio moaning,” said Toto Wolff.

He was 0.8 seconds behind Norris, who was 0.9 seconds behind Russell.

Hamilton was 0.7 seconds back in fourth place, as Hadjar retired from the Sprint.

The ninth lap – Russell might have wanted to extend his lead now he was not defending so hard – but Norris was keeping him honest and remained within a second and thus had Overtake Mode in his grasp.

His front tyres were too cold reportedly, that was why Russell cannot disappear out-front and why Norris was very much in this fight for a potential second Sprint win of the season.

The tenth tour – These used tyres were not doing the business for Mercedes – Antonelli was also struggling, and that had given Hamilton an opening. he was crawling all over the back of Antonelli’s Silver Arrow, but then the Ferrari man dipped one wheel in the dirt which harmed him that tour.

Hadjar was parked up in the garage – but Red Bull had sent him back out on-track.

Lap 12 – Russell’s lead was just 0.7 seconds on tyres that were six laps older than those on Norris’ car. And we are barely halfway in the Sprint at this stage.

Further back, Antonelli was 1.5 seconds further back, but he had just posted a new fastest lap as he started to get his tyres back into the optimal working window.

Norris had closed up again on race leader Russell- the gap was half-a-second. Could he make a move on his old friend, a man he grew up racing against was the question?

Those two had a little clean air to Antonelli behind them.

The 13^th tour – Russell was now graining his tyres and the band was clear to see on track.

Norris was half-a-second back, as the track temperature started to edge up – Mercedes normally go well in cool conditions.

The 14^th lap – Russell’s lead was 0.4 seconds from Norris, and now Antonelli was just one second behind and not far away from having Overtake Mode himself.

Hamilton had dropped back; his tyres having overheated in that fight with his Mercedes replacement Antonelli.

Further back, Leclerc was starting to close in on Piastri in the battle for fifth place.

Lap 15 – Norris had to turn attack into defence – that alleviated the pressure on Russell, who pulled out a few tenths. And that was because Antonelli was now just 0.6 seconds back on Norris in the battle for second place.

The 16^th tour – Norris was 0.7 seconds behind race leader Russell out-front, and Antonelli was 0.8 second behind the McLaren.

Hamilton was 2.5 seconds back, with Piastri and Leclerc there for company.

The leaders were lapping Albon, who had pitted and thus was running quite far back.

The 17^th lap – Lindblad was set to score a point for Racing Bulls – he had three seconds on Colapinto.

Verstappen was having a lonely race in seventh place.

But this was all about Russell now, who had to lap Albon in a really bad spot – and that closed up the top three.

Lap 18 – Up-front it was Russell from Norris from Antonelli. Those three had a gap to the rest of the field. And there were only a few tenths between them.

Russell was starting to slide out of turn eight, his tyres were potentially giving up the ghost at this stage.

Only a few laps left.

The 19^th tour – Russell and his grained, worn medium compounds were holding on, 0.8 seconds in-front of Norris who had Antonelli right on his tail. The teenager could not find a good overtaking spot on his team-mate – could he learn from that to overtake Norris?

Piastri was also looking racy, half-a-second back on Hamilton.

The 20^th lap – Russell pulled out a tenth – he was 0.9 seconds ahead. Could he break the one second barrier was the question? If he did, he would also help his team-mate, who would still have Overtake Mode.

Lap 21 – Hamilton was trying to hold Piastri at bay, just 0.4 seconds between them and to do so Hamilton was pushing hard. So hard he brushes the wall at the Wall of Champions.

Up-front, Russell was still holding on at 0.9 seconds, as it gave Norris Overtake Mode with which to defend, and kept his championship rival stuck in third place.

The penultimate lap – Russell lead by just seven tenths of a second. Norris could get close enough to try a move, and now he locked up and had Antonelli for company.

Antonelli made a move, he overtook Norris, braked far, far too late into the opening corner, ran wide and Norris got back past into second.

Further back, Piastri overtook Hamilton – and Leclerc made his way past his team-mate too. Hamilton down to sixth.

Russell crossed the line to take the Canadian GP Sprint win by 1.272 seconds over Norris as Antonelli completed the top three.

Piastri came home fourth and in-front of the two Ferrari’s of Leclerc and Hamilton who were fifth and sixth respectively.

Verstappen and Lindblad rounded out the top eight points’ places.

You can see the full Formula 1 Lenovo Canadian Grand Prix 2026 F1 Sprint Results Classification at the link: FORMULA 1 LENOVO GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2026 – SPRINT

2026 Canadian GP F1 Sprint – The Top Three

2026 Canadian GP F1 Sprint Winner – George Russell, #63, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W17 – (8 Points):

“”It was a cool race. It was difficult to get a gap; the slipstream was quite powerful. Good battle with Kimi, glad we are both standing here after the race”

2^nd Place – Lando Norris, #1, Mastercard McLaren Formula 1 Team, MCL40 – +1.272s – (7 Points):

“Was a good race, was good to watch them to go at it for a while and pick up the pieces. Kimi caught me back up pretty quick, so today was a good result for us.”

3^rd Place – Andrea Kimi Antonelli, #12, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W17 – +1.843s – (6 Points):

“It was a tough battle; we were all there in terms of pace. I tried to make a move; I need to review as I was alongside and was pushed off. Then I made a mistake in Turn 8 and got bumped off but was a good battle.”

***The full 2026 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings will be updated after the Grand Prix***

#F1 #CanadianGP #SprintQualifying: @GeorgeRussell63 blasts to #CanadianGP #Sprint pole.