Canadian GP: Martin Brundle's verdict on George Russell's 'despair', impact on F1 title race and 'rejuvenated' Lewis Hamilton

What a great weekend of F1 action, I enjoyed it from start to finish. This old school, smooth, narrow and moderately bumpy track with many fast straights and heavy braking zones, twisty chicanes and near walls almost always seems to make for a thriller with more than a few surprises.

We were a bit nervous that the 2026 power units might struggle more here than most track layouts this season, given so many long stretches and fewer chances to charge the battery, but as expected the teams and drivers adapt quickly and learn how to best use the engine and battery for qualifying, starting the race, restarting after safety cars and in both attacking and defensive mode.

We can do better still, but in the meantime we had a lot of frantic wheel-to-wheel racing, lots of overtaking where drivers had to finish their moves on the brakes and corner entries or defend brutally hard on the straights.

And to understand and explain the efficient ‘Overhauling Mode’ worth about three tenths of a second per interaction, becomes easier to observe and explain. In the end I think it can be more effective and authentic than ‘DRS’ if drivers and teams have to work on it and make the movements stick rather than an easy stroke by.

We also had two qualifying sessions, especially for the main race which was old school punch and counter punch and last run over the finish line knife edge.

The Mercedes car upgrade certainly moved them to the front of the pack again with a small but undeniable advantage, and although the top five were in the same order for both the Sprint and the main Grand Prix, a third of a second covered the top seven. I really didn’t expect Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull to be so close so quickly.

‘Antonelli would always run out of tracks in the Sprint’

The biggest spoiler of the weekend, for us and not them, was that Mercedes seem to have completely sorted their starts and indeed George Russell from Sprint pole was best away. We saw the first of two mighty battles between him and championship leader and teammate Kimi Antonelli. George was marginally more in control and could command the track position, but Kimi looked a bit quicker, something we would see again on race day.

The inevitable happened in Turn One when Antonelli tried to pass on the outside. He came very close to winning the right to race space from his more senior teammate, but ultimately any driver fighting for a win, let alone a championship, would run him off the track. Any of us would have done or expected the same.

Kimi lost his head a bit during the sprint, so school manager Toto Wolff even intervened on the radio. Kimi is lucky to have the wisdom of Bono and Toto in these moments, the rest of us would have just gone straight to the scene of the contact or accident, and recriminations after the race.

McLaren had new intermediate tires for the Sprint against Mercedes’ used tires and that flattered them a bit, but nevertheless both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri looked strong, especially in the second half of a stint.

Lewis Hamilton looked a different driver all weekend, happy with the car moving around at speed and confident out of it. He dominated teammate Charles Leclerc, who is battling on this circuit layout.

Let’s be clear, multiple champions don’t have favorite or bogey circuits, it’s ‘One Game’ all the way and there’s no other option but a lot of luck.

Norris managed to split Russell and Antonelli for the Sprint podium after a few too many adventures and lock-ups for Antonelli. Worth watching and anyone who would still prefer an FP3 practice after that just baffles me.

McLaren suffers pain for tire call

All the forecasts were pointing to a wet race and some teams have no doubt factored this into their setups for the main race qualifying which they carry through to the race. In reality, the rain passed earlier than expected and other weather cells moved on both sides of Montreal.

The grid looked dry for Sunday’s Grand Prix as the cars came together, but there were many nervous teams and drivers really unsure of what to expect next. Few of them had any extensive experience with these new cars with lower downforce on wet or intermediate tires. Those with little knowledge did not enjoy the experience and it was hard enough to keep the slick dry tires up to temperature on this track in these ambient temperatures let alone the rain tires.

Seven drivers on the main start of the Grand Prix race opted for intermediates, most crucially both McLarens, who were convinced that slick tire runners would struggle and/or crash.

Then the light rain stopped, and when Arvid Lindblad’s Racing Bulls clutch failed, the start and another formation lap were interrupted. It took a while to clear his car off the grid and then there was another formation lap. And seven minutes after McLaren’s calculated tire risk, the race got under way and the intermediates looked a poor choice on the largely dry track. Painful for them, especially as Piastri asked to switch immediately, and it would only get worse with a contact for Piastri with Albon at turn 10.

Later, Norris parked his wrecked car at the same turn 10. It is the eighth race in 10 years that McLaren have not scored points and so definitely a bogey track for them.

It was a great shame to lose the McLarens from the front picture, but the dueling Mercedes and the relentless driving of Hamilton and Verstappen more than made up for it.

‘Nothing to choose between Russell and Antonelli

There is no choice between Russell and Antonelli at the moment, experience and wisdom seem to match unbridled speed and enthusiasm perfectly, which is why they keep meeting in the middle of a corner.

They constantly seemed to be side by side, especially when both drivers went a touch deep on the brakes into the Turn 10 hairpin. That is until Russell’s Merc expired forever with a rare technical fault somewhere in the power unit. And he was out. In his despair, he threw his headrest down the road and out in front of the car, for which he would be fined €5,000 suspended for 12 months. Money well spent as far as I’m concerned as a way to process the extreme adrenaline rush and disappointment. Been there, done that.

This freed Antonelli on his way to a relatively unscathed fourth straight win ahead of a rejuvenated Hamilton who grabbed second place, his best finish for Ferrari in 29 races, with a bold move on his old nemesis Verstappen in the closing stages.

Three different teams on the podium, and while not an all-time classic, this was a thoroughly entertaining and memorable Grand Prix as far as I can tell.

George Russell is now 43 points adrift of his teenage team-mate, the equivalent of first and second, and he must believe that what goes around comes around. There is still a long way to go, but McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull are not going to stand still either.

Isack Hadjar served a 30-second penalty for moving under braking in the defense and breaching the yellow flag rules, still finishing fifth. He has really turned a corner, not unlike Franco Colapinto at Alpine, who is a completely different driver of late and came home with a very creditable sixth for his best F1 result.

In Monaco, the next challenge, there will be no problems to refill the very hungry battery and the cars will be full of enormous power and challenges. I really admire all the drivers for managing the variability and development of modern F1.

Next up is the start of Formula 1’s European summer swing, with the Monaco Grand Prix the first of six races in eight weeks. Watch live on Sky Sports F1 from 5-7. June. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime