Canada - Sprint

During the last race weekend, Lando Norris broke Mercedes' incredibly dominant streak when he won the sprint. In Canada, the British team was looking for revenge. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli locked ou the front row, drastically increasing the possibility of a Mercedes driver taking the win. The question was, which one would do it? 

Russell and Antonelli held their positions as the lights went out for the first time. The young Italian stayed glued to his teammate, not hiding his intention to attack as soon as he would find the right opportunity. Behind them, Lewis Hamilton moved up a place, splitting the two McLarens, while Isack Hadjar fell away as he reported engine problems. 

On lap five, Russell made a mistake, which gave Antonelli a chance to make up a few seconds and led to the sprint's first proper wheel-to-wheel fight for the lead. The latter ended up going off track after the two made slight contact. He stayed relentless, and the situation repeated itself not long after, this time resulting in a loss of position for Antonelli. This enraged the driver who took to the radio to claim that his teammate had pushed him out. He was scolded for "radio moaning" and told to focus on driving. 

Lando Norris found himself within reach of th race leader. At the same time, the man chasing him, Antonelli, had to focus on fighting off the attacks of Hamilton who was also hungry for the podium. The fights soon cooled off, only to pick up in pace as the sprint neared its end. On lap 18 the top three contenders were all within a second of each other, promising a few exciting laps to finish the day. 

With three laps to go, Oscar Piastri began creeping in on Hamilton in front. The Ferrari driver felt the pressure and began driving at the very limit of the track, even grazing the wall of champions on one of the laps. His efforts were in vein as before the checkered flag waved, he fell behind both Piastri and his teammate, Charles Leclerc. At the same time, the fights at the front led to another big moment for Antonelli. An off-track incident slowed him and Norris down on the final laps, giving Russell room to breathe as he cruised to the sprint victory.

Order of the grid;

1. George Russell

2. Lando Norris

3. Kimi Antonelli

4. Oscar Piastri

5. Charles Leclerc

6. Lewis Hamilton

7. Max Verstappen

8. Arvid Lindblad

9. Franco Colapinto

10. Carlos Sainz

11. Sergio Perez

12. Liam Lawson

13. Gabriel Bortoleto

14. Nico Hulkenberg

15. Esteban Ocon

16. Lance Stroll

17. Valteri Bottas

18. Oliver Bearman

19. Alex Albon

20. Pierre Gasly

21. Isack Hadjar

DNF: Fernando Alonso