George Russell grabbed Canadian Sprint victory from pole position, but it was far from plain-sailing after engaging in an on-track feud with Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli.
Russell finished just 1.272s seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, with championship leader Antonelli a further 0.571s adrift in third at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
It was a race, though, that exploded into life on lap six as Antonelli twice made failed attempts to pass Russell, forcing him to take to the grass on both occasions to avoid a collision.
At one stage, Antonelli even called for Russell to be handed a penalty as he felt his team-mate was “naughty” with his defence. As the red mist descended after the second incident, team principal Toto Wolff was forced to intervene over the radio, urging the teenager to calm down.
The end result is that Antonelli was forced to settle for third, with his championship lead cut to 18 points over Russell.
Antonelli anger
Mercedes issue so far this season has been its starts off the line. Coming into this race, Russell said the team had made “baby steps” in its progress in tackling the problem.
On this occasion, Russell made a superb getaway, with Antonelli filing in behind him, leaving the McLarens and Ferraris in their wake, albeit aided by the short run down to Turn 1.
The most significant move behind the Mercedes duo saw Hamilton pass McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to claim fourth.
As Russell and Antonelli pulled away, their rivalry burst into life on lap six as the Italian attempted a move on his more experienced team-mate around the outside of Turn 1. Antonelli was forced to cut across the grass, whilst Russell kept his cool to maintain his lead.
Into the second chicane, however, a clearly annoyed Antonelli attempted another lunge on Russell, only to go flying across another grassed area to avoid a collision.
Antonelli voiced his anger over the radio, calling for a penalty for Russell, forcing Wolff to take to the radio and tell his young driver to focus on his driving rather than his radio messages.
The second of those incidents additionally resulted in Antonelli losing second place to Norris, as the Briton was able to surge past as the young Italian attempted to recover after returning to the track.
As the race continued, Norris then slowly started to reel in Russell, whilst Antonelli slowly regained his composure to work his way back into contention.
On lap 18, especially, the lead trio were within a second of one another after passing a slow-moving Alex Albon in his Williams early on, and later forming a concertina as they rounded the hairpin.
Norris, though, was unable to make a move over the following laps, and instead, after a slight error out of the hairpin on the final lap, he came under attack from Antonelli into Turn 1.
Again, though, Antonelli overcooked his move and was forced to take to the run-off area. Although he came out ahead of Norris, he gave the place back.
To the line, Norris was able to hold on to second position, sandwiching the Mercedes duo.
Into the final chicane on the penultimate lap, Piastri grabbed fourth from Hamilton, who was also later passed by Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad netted the final two points-paying positions in seventh and eighth.
