Kimi Antonelli won the Canadian Grand Prix, his fourth straight victory, and extended his lead in the drivers' championship. The 19-year-old Mercedes driver prevailed at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal on Sunday, 24 May 2026, in a race shaped by cold track temperatures and a persistent light drizzle that made tyre warm-up the central challenge. Lewis Hamilton finished second and Max Verstappen third after George Russell, who had dominated the sprint on Saturday, retired late with a mechanical problem.

Kimi Antonelli converted a strong starting position into a controlled win on a cool, blustery day at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Cold track temperatures and a persistent light drizzle made tyre warm-up the central challenge for every team, and Antonelli and his Mercedes crew managed that variable better than anyone.

Race conditions and tyre trouble. The 24 May race unfolded under conditions that punished cars unable to keep their tyres in the operating window. Several teams suffered significant temperature loss and were forced into early, unscheduled garage visits to swap tyres or attempt quick fixes. The net effect was a shuffled order and opportunities for drivers who found consistent grip.

George Russell had started alongside Antonelli after taking pole for the sprint and winning that Saturday race. Russell led early on Sunday, but a mechanical problem forced his retirement and removed one of Antonelli's principal threats. That failure was decisive: with Russell out, the prize for conserving tyres and avoiding pit-road detours grew much larger for the remaining front-runners.

McLaren endured a difficult afternoon after tyre choices and set-up calls failed to pay off. The team collected fewer positives than expected and left Montreal with questions about its race strategy and tyre performance.

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Podium fight and championship impact. Antonelli crossed the line with Hamilton in pursuit and Verstappen close behind. Hamilton, now driving for Ferrari this season, navigated the tricky conditions to claim his second podium of the year.

Verstappen took third after a tight late battle, a useful return given his team's set-up questions this weekend.

Antonelli described the finish as hard-earned, saying, "It isn't the way I would have wanted to win, but it was a nice battle with George, and we will take it," a line he delivered after the race. That comment captured the weekend's mix of tension and relief: a sprint victory for Russell on Saturday, then the classical Grand Prix on Sunday that reshaped the championship order when mechanical trouble intervened.

With the win Antonelli extended his lead in the drivers' championship. The combination of his consistency over four races and the misfortune of rivals altered the points picture more than raw pace on a single lap. Hamilton's second place and Verstappen's third were solid results for both as teams work through set-up questions raised by Montreal's cool surface and drizzle.

The tactical lesson was clear. Teams that could keep tyre temperatures up enjoyed a competitive advantage.

Those that couldn't faced early pit stops, compromised stints, and in some cases, mechanical failures that compounded strategic errors. Montreal's conditions turned tyre management from a routine task into the race's decisive skill.

Beyond tyres and reliability, the weekend also showed how quickly fortunes can change between a sprint and a full Grand Prix. Russell's sprint success set expectations, but mechanical trouble on Sunday removed him from contention and handed momentum to a young Mercedes driver who has now made consistency his calling card.

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Next on the calendar is the Monaco Grand Prix in two weeks, where teams will attempt to consolidate the developments brought to Montreal and reset their championship battles on a very different street circuit. Originally reported by ladepeche.fr.

This article was created with AI assistance.