George Russell and Kimi Antonelli deliver a flawless performance at Grand Prix Canada

The final leaderboard results at the Canadian Grand Prix saw all the big names separated by small margins, but that was thanks to the Safety Car intervention. After their coming together at Barcelona in the previous round when Max Verstappen received unnecessary attention worldwide and a penalty on his license, all eyes were on the Red Bull driver in P2 and the pole sitter George Russell.

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli's dream run

Would they clash again? That excitement and build up was quickly put to rest as Russell simply disappeared up the road as soon as the five red lights went out! Mercedes team-mate Antonelli went aggressive on championship leader Oscar Piastri and stole P3, quickly anticipating a defensive drive from the calm Aussie. And defensive it was, as all the way to the final laps when he closed the door on McLaren team mate Lando Norris so much so that a frustrated Norris ended up in the pit wall in a dramatic crash! 

Norris later said; ”I thought he was starting to drift a little bit to the right, so I thought I had a small opportunity to go to the left. But it was way too much risk, especially on my team-mate. So, happy nothing happened to him. I paid the price for my mistake.”

McLaren and Norris might rue that crucial mistake in Canada if they fall short by a few points at the end of the season. But this is motor racing and momentum and form can quickly swing around after a few solid performances.

So how did Mercedes outshine not only the inform champion team McLaren, but defending champion Verstappen as well?

In 2024, George qualified on pole too, ahead of Verstappen again! Mercedes finished on the podium here, so they had valuable data to peer over and lean into, as this generation of cars are reaching their limits in terms of performance. 

It remains to be seen if Scuderia Ferrari can begin to up their game soon, just like Mercedes have and get both their cars on the podium.

It’s the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria next. Russell won here last time around after Norris and Verstappen clashed and took each other out, but repeating that success would surely delight Austrian team principal Toto Wolff!

Don't miss the Austrian Grand Prix for the world.

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Round 11 | Austria | Sunday, 29th June 18:30 | F1TV & FanCode App