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World championship leader Kimi Antonelli continued his fine form by trailing teammate George Russell in Canadian Grand Prix practice as Mercedes produced an ominous display with their upgraded car.
After winning each of the first four races of the season, Mercedes made a statement in the weekend’s only practice session after bringing their first major upgrade package of the year to Montreal, establishing themselves as heavy favorites for sprint qualifying later on Friday.
Antonelli, who has won the last three races to establish a 20-point lead over Russell, pipped his team-mate by 0.142 seconds, almost eight-tenths of a second behind the third Italian, Lewis Hamilton for Ferrari.
The result puts more pressure on Russell going into the rest of the weekend, with the pre-season favorite arriving at a circuit where he won last year hoping to halt the 19-year-old’s pace.
Instead, the Brit went ahead and perhaps showed some frustration towards the end of the session as he went off track and taped a barrier, but avoided significant damage and managed to get his car back to the pit lane.
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Esteban Ocon slammed his helmet into the wall during opening practice in Canada.
The action-packed session featured three red-flag stoppages, the first due to Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson stopping due to a technical problem, the second Alex Albon unfortunately crashing his Williams after hitting a groundhog and the third Esteban Ocon crashing into the barriers at high speed after losing control of his Haas.
A total of 19 extra minutes were added to the session to make up for lost time as the track cleared under the first two red flags.
Hamilton was nearly two tenths clear of his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in fourth, with Max Verstappen just behind the Monegasque in fifth.
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Ted Kravitz and Bernie Collins explain what upgrades Mercedes has brought ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.
Reigning world champion Lando Norris was 1.3 seconds off Antonelli’s pace in sixth, with his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastre further a few tenths behind in seventh.
McLaren added a significant amount of upgrades to the package it brought to Miami last time, but it made it difficult for both drivers to pinpoint how far behind Mercedes they were when attempting flying laps.
Franco Colapinto was unable to set a time for the Alpine as a power unit problem limited him to just one lap in the early stages of the session.
Sky Sports F1’s Canadian GP schedule
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A look at the wildest moments caught on onboard cameras at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Friday 22nd May
6.55pm: F2 Qualifying*
7.40pm: Team bosses’ press conference*
9pm: Canadian GP Sprint Qualifying (Session starts at 9.30pm)*
10.55pm: F1 Academy Qualifying*
Saturday 23 May
2.40pm: F1 Academy Race 1
4pm: Canadian GP sprint build-up
5pm: Canadian GP Sprint
6.30pm: Ted’s Sprint Notebook
7pm: F2 Sprint*
8.10pm: Canadian GP Qualifying Build Up*
9pm: Canadian GP Qualifying*
11pm: F1 Academy Race 2*
11.45pm: Ted’s Qualifications Notebook*
Sunday 24 May
3.40pm: F1 Academy Race 3
5pm: F2 Feature Race
7.30pm: Canadian GP Build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
9pm: Canadian Grand Prix*
11am: Canadian GP reaction: Checkered flag*
12am: Ted’s Notebook*
*Also on Sky Sports main events
Formula 1 is in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and another sprint weekend. Watch live on Sky Sports F1, Sunday’s race at 9pm. Stream Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime
