Antonelli leads Mercedes 1-2 in Canadian GP practice

Kimi Antonelli bested Mercedes George Russell to top spot in a thrice-disrupted sole practice session at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes drivers controlled the entire session, which was extended by almost 20 minutes to account for three separate red flags, before pumping in a set of times on soft tires to validate the team’s first major upgrade package of the season.

Antonelli laid down a formidable marker, setting purple times in the first and third sectors for a best time of 1m13.402s. It put him half a second clear of Russell, whose first softs lap was affected by wheelspin exiting the hairpin, but the Englishman’s second attempt on softs could only close the gap to 0.142s despite a purple middle split.

Russell’s third attempt to match his teammate was aborted by a spin into the wall at the first turn, though he avoided damage and was able to continue back to pit lane.

Despite lacking upgrades this weekend, Ferrari emerged as Mercedes’s closest challenger, but Lewis Hamilton in third place was a significant 0.774s off the pace, with teammate Charles Leclerc 0.179s further back.

Max Verstappen reported that a Red Bull Racing update had resulted in a marked improvement to his long-running bugbear with clunky downshifts on his way to fifth and 0.964s off the pace.

McLaren looked lackluster despite applying a second tranche of upgrades to its car this weekend. Lando Norris was quickest between them, but the reigning world champion was 1.397s slower than Antonelli.

Oscar Piastri was 0.164s slower than his teammate, but the Australian’s sole attempt at a time on soft tires was spoiled by a big lock-up into the final chicane that forced him to abandon the lap. The Pirelli rubber was too badly flat-spotted for a second lap, leaving him seventh.

Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad was eighth and 2.05s off the pace ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso, who slotted into ninth and 10th at 0.2s intervals for Audi and Aston Martin respectively.

Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar followed ahead of Esteban Ocon, who was able to complete the session despite causing a red flag with five minutes remaining for shattering his nose cone exiting Turn 4.

Ocon’s Haas spun from his control on the exit curbs and fired into the barrier on the opposite side of the track, where it left its nose behind. The Frenchman, who had complained earlier in the session of a too-low ride height, was able to return to pit lane for repairs, but he will see the stewards after the session for exiting a closed pit lane at the resumption.

Alex Albon ended the session 14th despite completing just 15 laps before hitting a groundhog exiting Turn 7. The impact caused significant damage to the front and rear of his Williams, forcing him to stop on track and triggering a lengthy red flag. His teammate Carlos Sainz followed in 15th ahead of Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll.

Liam Lawson was another session casualty, the Kiwi reporting a loss of power steering likely indicative of a hydraulics problem after just five laps and stopping on circuit, causing the first red flag of the session.

Lawson’s Racing Bulls car will be scrutinize by officials after the session after marshals were unable to disengage the clutch with the external neutral button, a regulatory requirement.

Oliver Bearman ended the session 19th ahead of Cadillac teammates Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, while Franco Colapinto ended the session last and without a timed lap due to an electrical problem with the power unit.

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