Canadian GP: Will Mercedes’ car upgrades keep them ahead and will Lewis Hamilton’s ‘no-simulator’ approach pay off? | F1 News

As the 2026 Formula 1 season resumes this weekend, Sky Sports assesses the key talking points heading into the F1 Canadian Grand Prix.

Mercedes to bring major upgrades

While much of the focus will be on George Russell and whether he can stop Kimi Antonelli’s early championship pace, the Mercedes team themselves will be hoping their major upgrade package gives them an advantage over the field.

Although Mercedes have won each of the four races so far this season, the field has certainly closed down in Miami and Lando Norris feels that McLaren would have had a better shot at victory if it had been more proactive with strategy.

While most teams brought significant upgrades to Miami, Mercedes had only one minor update to their cars. However, there will be visible changes to the aerodynamics of the W17 in Canada which Toto Wolff hopes will translate into more performance.

“Sometimes the upgrades are not related to the stopwatch, so we have to prove it. I hope we can,” he said. Sky Sports F1.

“It’s going to be a development race this season. How much can you bring in? Are you limited by the cost cap? All those things will play a role.”

McLaren isn’t standing still though, and has more new parts for Canada, at the top of their Miami development. Montreal had one of their least competitive showings in 2025, with difficulties compounded when Norris and title-contending teammate Oscar Piastre collided during a fight for fourth place.

“We have a lot of development paths in the pipeline, with plans for Canada and parts in Monaco and Spain,” said team head Andrea Stella.

“We are in the fight, and we believe it will set the stage for a very interesting championship battle for the fans and for F1.”

Red Bull gained the most in Miami as they effectively had a new car built with Max Verstappen and would probably have claimed a podium had it not been for the first lap spin.

Don’t expect to see too many new parts on the RB22 this weekend, as they aim for next month’s European races to make an even bigger leap forward.

Hamilton tests new ‘no-simulator’ approach

Regardless of the kind of season he’s having, a race weekend in Montreal always stirs nostalgia around Lewis Hamilton.

Nineteen years after his famous first F1 win at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – the first of a joint-record seven at the track – Hamilton hopes to return to podium contention this weekend after two tough races since a positive start to his second season at Ferrari.

His Grand Prix in Miami last Sunday was ultimately compromised by bad luck, firstly when a fast ride was ruined by a spinning Verstappen and secondly when his car was damaged around the lap after contact with Franco Colapinto, Hamilton had a weekend of false finishes and seven fine finishes.

Hamilton said at the end of the weekend that “I’m going with a different approach to the next race because the way we’re preparing at the moment is not helping”, having previously finished just sixth in Japan.

So what does that change in approach entail? The shift away from race weekend preparation is now so common in modern F1 that he has long said he never liked it much – simulator work.

“I’m not going to go to the simulator between now and the next race.” Hamilton said. “I’ll still go to the factory and have meetings and stuff, but I’m just stepping away from it a bit and going to see. Because when we went to China (which was straight after Australia) I had the best weekend without SIM.”

As F1 prepares for another sprint weekend in Canada with set-up time on track again limited to a single practice session, will Hamilton’s no-sim policy help him start on the front foot?

Verstappen’s focus is back on F1 after the Nurburgring 24 Hours

Verstappen has been busy since the last F1 race as he made his Nürburgring 24 Hours debut and was in contention for the win with his teammates until his car suffered late reliability problems.

The four-time world champion has made two trips to the iconic Nordschleife circuit this year to prepare for the race and plans another appearance in the future.

Now his focus will continue on F1 and Red Bull’s upward trend from Miami, when he qualified on the front row for a grand prix for the first time this season.

Verstappen has been on the front row in Montreal at F1’s last four outings, amid a strong record since the sport returned to Canada in 2022-2024 and finished second to Russell last year.

Any kind of podium finish at this time would probably be welcome.

Canada’s first sprint weekend

Due to the cancellation of the April races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Canada will be the third sprint weekend of the season with five races, but it is the first time Montreal has hosted the alternate format.

That means competitive action from Friday evening with sprint qualifying and, being a road track, drivers willing to take early risks and brave the walls will be rewarded.

The power-unit regulation changes for Miami produced some great racing, and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve should see more of the same thanks to its long straights and large braking zone.

Rain is also in the forecast for Sunday, so we could see the new 2026 car race in the rain for the first time at a Grand Prix.

The Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix and another sprint weekend head to Montreal. Watch F1 live on Sky Sports from this Friday. Stream Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime