Canadian Grand Prix 2026: Kim Antonelli fastest in practice

Kim Antonelli led George Russell to a Mercedes one-two in a Canadian Grand Prix practice session interrupted by Alex Albon’s Williams collision with a groundhog.

Albon crashed heavily after failing to clear the animal on the exit of turn seven. The British-born Tai skidded some distance on the straight next to the corner, causing serious damage to his car.

The red flag that resulted in the incident was one of three, the first when Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson stopped on track after losing the lead, and the last when Esteban Ocon collided with Haas after spinning at the exit of turn four.

Antonelli, who leads Russell by 20 points after winning three of the first four races, was 0.142 seconds faster than his teammate.

Russell needed two attempts to get close to the Italian, before spinning and touching the wall slightly – without any damage to the car – at the start of his third attempt.

Mercedes’ massive upgrade package for this race looks set to have a major impact. The seven-time champion leads team-mate Charles Leclerc by 0.179 seconds in fourth place.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fifth fastest, 0.964s off the pace, and ahead of both McLarens was world champion Lando Norris leading Oscar Piaster.

The second of two upgrade packages the McLaren team has rolled out at this race and the last in Miami, Norris won the race from pole to become the first driver to beat Mercedes in qualifying or the race.

This weekend is also racing, and qualifying for Saturday’s Grand Prix is ​​on Friday at 21:30 BST (16:30 local time).

Racing Bulls’ British rookie Arvid Lindblad was eighth fastest in the top 10 in any session for the first time this season, ahead of Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin.

The veteran two-time champion ran a tire compensation strategy, using softer tires earlier in the session than most teams.