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Andrea Kimi Antonelli made history again in the Canadian Grand Prix by extending his run of consecutive grand prix victories since his first win to four. No other driver won their first four grands prix in succession.
That makes him one of five drivers to record exactly four grand prix victories, joining rival Carlos Sainz Jnr, whose fourth win at Mexico in 2024 remains Ferrari’s most recent triumph. Dan Gurney, Bruce McLaren and Eddie Irvine are also four-times grand prix winners.
This was the 55th running of the Canadian Grand Prix but only the second won by an Italian. Michele Alboreto won the race for Ferrari in 1985, and like Antonelli also left Montreal as the championship leader.
This was the first time Antonelli did not win from pole position. George Russell pipped him to pole for the grand prix by 0.086 seconds – exactly the same margin which separated the pair when they locked out the front row of the grid for the sprint race. Following their blip in Miami, Mercedes claimed the first two places on the grid for the fourth time this year. Their 88th grid one-two extends their record, which is now five more than that of closest rivals Ferrari.
Russell claimed his 10th pole position, becoming the 38th driver in history to reach double digits (though FOM do not recognise his 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix pole). However his personal best 20-race streak of points finishes ended when his battery failed.
The driver with the longest running streak of points finishes on the grid now is Charles Leclerc, on eight. Leclerc’s team mate Lewis Hamilton scored his best result for Ferrari since he joined them at the beginning of last year.
Russell’s retirement allowed Antonelli to increase his lead to 43 points. The biggest lead any driver achieved all season last year was 34. Not since Max Verstappen won the 2024 title, 63 points ahead of Lando Norris, has there been a bigger points gap at the top.
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Verstappen finished on the podium for the first time this year. It is the first time since 2018 it took him until round five to finish on the podium. Encouragingly for Red Bull, this was the first rostrum appearance scored by their Red Bull-Ford powertrain, built at their facility in Milton Keynes.
Isack Hadjar scored the best result of his F1 career to date, despite picking up not only one of the harshest penalties available – a 10-second stop-and-go – but also a separate 10-second time penalty. He still finished over 14 seconds ahead of another driver who achieved a personal best finish – Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.
That result for Hadjar was the best finish for a team mate of Verstappen’s since Sergio Perez finished fourth at the Miami Grand Prix in 2024. That was Perez’s best result until Red Bull handed him a new two-year contract two races later. However Perez never better fourth place over the rest of the year and his new contract was binned. Instead of starting what should have been his sixth season for Red Bull this year he is now driving for Cadillac.
For the second time this year, McLaren came away from the sprint race with a respectable, double-figure points haul, then failed to score in the grand prix. In China they took no points after locking out the third row of the grid, but in Canada they did it from a second row sweep.
Arvid Lindblad equalled his best grid position with ninth. But unlike in Australia, where he moved up to fifth place at the end of lap one, this time he didn’t even start.
His retirement led to two extra formation laps which trimmed the race distance from 70 laps to 68. This was the shortest Canadian Grand Prix since 2018, when model Winnie Harlow waved the chequered flag early in error.
This was also the earliest Canadian Grand Prix ever: the race has never previously been held before June. Sunday brought unusually cool temperatures of just 12C, yet this was positively balmy compared to F1’s first visit to the Montreal track. That inaugural race, held on October 8th, saw race day temperatures of just 5C. Home winner Gilles Villeneuve collected his trophy wearing a thick overcoat.
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Over to you
Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Canadian Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
2026 Canadian Grand Prix
- Stats: Antonelli has larger points lead than any driver had last year, and more
- Power deficit is keeping Ferrari out of the fight with Mercedes – Hamilton
- ‘Actually an opportunity’: How McLaren answered drivers’ calls to ditch tyre gamble
- “He needs to back up”: How Mercedes managed Russell and Antonelli’s Canadian GP fight
- ‘It doesn’t feel like what motorsport should be’: Podium trio still unhappy with F1’s power units
