Dust-up between Mercedes teammates in Canada Sprint shows that there’s a classic title fight brewing
It’s been a few years since Formula 1 introduced the Sprint format and I was a bit surprised to realize that Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Canada had never hosted such a format until Saturday.
He should probably join the rotation full-time because he gave us a race that showed a title fight for the ages coming between Mercedes team-mates Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.
The Silver Arrows locked out the front row of the grid for the 23-lap race; Russell was on pole and Antonelli was in second, and that appeared to be thanks to the new upgrade package the team brought to Montreal.
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Mercedes driver George Russell (right) battles with teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli during the Sprint Race ahead of the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix. (Photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)
When the lights went out Russell made the better escape, but Antonelli, who had really struggled at the start, stuck with him and within a few laps they were both pulling away from each other.
That’s when things got interesting.
Antonelli tried to make a move from the outside of Turn 1 and appeared to be ahead heading into the top, but Russell moved in to take the next turn and forced Antonelli off the track.
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The 19-year-old championship leader was furious and immediately jumped on the radio to let his team know how unhappy he was with his teammate.
Shortly afterwards Antonelli tried another move and ended up cutting another corner and bouncing on the grass.
This allowed him to take second place where McLaren’s Lando Norris had passed him.
Russell won the Sprint, followed by Norris and then Antonelli.
I think Antonelli’s second race was going into the corner too hot and maybe he was still angry about the Turn 1 incident.
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli goes off-road to avoid contact with teammate George Russell. (Photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)
Speaking of which, this seemed pretty borderline. I think you can put the blame on both drivers.
And in fact, they themselves saw this differently.
But the biggest takeaway is that both drivers will do their best to win this championship and that’s a great thing for the fans.
Not good for the team.
In fact, team boss Toto Wolff had to talk Antonelli out many times throughout the race; This included once when pitting at the end of the race.
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If there is one team that is familiar with the intra-team fight for the title and how it can go wrong, it is Mercedes.
Who knows if it will be as intense as the famous title fight between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in 2016? Rosberg won, but the pair crashed into each other during the race. Spanish Grand Prix – but it looks like we may have taken the first step in that direction.
