Russell takes Canada GP sprint victory as Antonelli disagrees

Mercedes George Russell takes victory at the Canadian Grand Prix sprint race after the two Mercedes entered a heated battle out on track.

Feature image credit: Mercedes F1

George Russell has taken his first sprint victory at the Canadian Grand Prix in a contentious race unfolded between the Mercedes drivers.

Russell had started the race as the leader and looked to be in a position to extend and control his race lead, but his younger Italian teammate, Antonelli, kept him honest.

But it all came to blows on the sixth lap as the two ran side-by-side into turn two. Antonelli was prepared to sweep around the outside to challenge for the lead, but as Russell navigated the corner the Briton squeezed the Italian to the track edge.

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As a result, Antonelli ran off the track and onto the grass – almost colliding the two cars together when the Italian returned. Thankfully, both cars were able to continue.

However, further on the lap, Antonelli ran over some bumps on the run to turn eight and locked up, forcing him to carry too much speed into the corner.

Whilst Russell was able to take the corner, Antonelli was forced to run over the grass, hopping across as he worked his way back onto the circuit.

As a result, Russell retained the race lead, but Antonelli fell behind to third as it allowed McLaren’s defending world champion, Lando Norris, to slip past.

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Whilst the Italian was able to return to the fight for the lead, the top three did not change – despite a late, unsuccessful lunge from Antonelli on Norris.

Regardless to who was behind the British driver, Russell was never able to extend a comfortable gap over his closest rivals. Both Norris and Antonelli kept the Briton honest as he raced to victory after the first 23-lap race in Canada.

Throughout the race, Antonelli disagreed with his teammate’s racecraft, stating the Briton had forced him off the circuit. As a result, it forced the Mercedes team boss, Toto Wolff, to intervene to help keep Antonelli’s focus on the race, confirming they would deal with the incident internally when the chequered flag fell.

How the field finished:

1. George Russell, Mercedes 
2. Lando Norris, McLaren +1.272s 
3. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes +1.843s
4. Oscar Piastri, McLaren +9.797s
5. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +9.929s
6. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari +10.545s
7. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing +15.935s
8. Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls +29.710s
9. Franco Colapinto, Alpine +31.621s
10. Carlos Sainz, Williams +36.793s
11. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls +61.344s
12. Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi +61.814s
13. Esteban Ocon, Haas +64.209s
14. Sergio Perez, Cadillac +70.402s
15. Nico Hulkenberg, Audi +72.158s
16. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +1L
17. Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac +1L
18. Oliver Bearman, Haas +1L
19. Alexander Albon, Williams +1L
20. Pierre Gasly, Alpine +1L
21. Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing +3L
22. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +8L/Retired

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Steward’s grant Lawson and Albon permission to race in Canadian Sprint
• Hamilton credits revised preparation after strongest qualifying display of season
• Russell hails Mercedes upgrade push after Canadian Sprint pole
• Racing Bulls fined €10,000 for technical breach
• Antonelli leads Mercedes one-two in incident-filled FP1 at Montreal
• Liam Lawson referred to stewards for technical breach at Canadian Grand Prix
• “Absolute Bull***t” says Komatsu on Ocon rumours

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.