Mercedes Dominate Messy Canadian GP Practice as Antonelli Leads 1-2

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli led teammate George Russell in a Mercedes 1-2 during the only Formula 1 practice session at the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix. The session was interrupted by three red flags — a Liam Lawson car failure, Alex Albon crashing after striking a groundhog, and Esteban Ocon spinning into the wall — before being extended to give teams extra track time ahead of sprint qualifying.

Why it matters:

Mercedes’ dominance in this sole practice session sets an early benchmark for the rest of the weekend. With sprint qualifying later today, teams have limited time to adjust their setups. The Silver Arrows appear to have strong pace straight out of the box, putting pressure on rivals like Ferrari and Red Bull who trailed by nearly a second.

The details:

• Top 3: Antonelli (1m13.402s), Russell (+0.142s), Hamilton (Ferrari, +0.774s)
• Red flag incidents: Lawson stopped with a suspected power unit issue; Albon crashed heavily at Turn 6 after hitting a groundhog; Ocon spun into the wall at Turn 8.
• Extended session: The red flags prompted officials to add extra minutes to the clock, allowing teams to complete setup runs for sprint qualifying.
• Notable gaps: Verstappen was fifth (+0.964s), Norris sixth (+1.397s), and Piastri seventh (+1.561s). Cadillac’s Bottas and Perez were slowest, 4.4s off the pace.

What's next:

Sprint qualifying takes place later today, with teams now forced to finalize their setups based on limited data from a disrupted session. Mercedes will look to convert practice dominance into pole position, while Ferrari and Red Bull hope to close the gap overnight. The sprint race itself follows on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s grand prix.