Montreal : British driver George Russell of Mercedes claimed first place in the sprint race for the Canadian Grand Prix, the fifth round of the Formula One World Championship, held at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal, Canada.
Russell completed the 23 laps of the race while maintaining the lead position from which he started, finishing ahead of compatriot and reigning world champion Lando Norris of McLaren, who came second, while Mercedes’ young Italian driver Kimi Antonelli finished third after an intense and exciting battle with his British team-mate that saw him go off the track more than once.
With the victory, George Russell earned the 10 points awarded to the sprint race winner, reducing the gap in the overall World Championship standings between himself and his Italian team-mate Antonelli from 20 points to 18 ahead of the main race scheduled for Sunday, which will be preceded later on Saturday by the official qualifying session to determine the starting grid positions.
The race witnessed significant excitement from the opening laps following a direct battle between the two Mercedes drivers, Russell and Antonelli, while British driver Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari dropped down the order after being overtaken by Australian Oscar Piastri and Monaco driver Charles Leclerc, amid a tense radio exchange between Antonelli and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who asked his young driver to focus and postpone discussion of the race details until the team’s internal meetings.
