George Russell took victory in Saturday’s Canadian Grand Prix sprint race, but was made to work by Kimi Antonelli and McLaren‘s Lando Norris.
The first cracks began to emerge in harmony between the Mercedes driver pairing at the start of Lap 6, with Antonelli closing up on the back of his team-mate and making a move into Turn 1 only to be squeezed unceremoniously onto the grass through Turn 2.
The pair nearly came to blows again when Antonelli made another passing attempt, getting alongside the sister Mercedes only to bounce across the grass again and lose out not only Russell, but also Norris.
Norris took advantage of the work put into the Mercedes’ tyres to close right up onto Russell, harassing him for the remainder of the 23-lap race while himself being harassed by Antonelli.
There was another close fight a few seconds behind the leading trio, with Oscar Piastri sandwiched between the Ferrari pair – behind Lewis Hamilton but ahead of Charles Leclerc.
A dramatic final lap and a half saw Antonelli go off track for the third time in half an hour while attempting an overtake, once again conceding the spot, while both Piastri and Leclerc swamped Hamilton for fourth and fifth respectively.
Further down the field, Sergio Perez was once again outside the points, but finished a very creditable 11th place – by far the best finish for a Cadillac in the American team’s short history. Even being dropped to 14th by a 10-second penalty applied post-race won’t dampen the team’s enjoyment of the sprint too much.
