The Guardian: “Mercedes duel a textbook example of racing”
Just as in Saturday’s sprint race, Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli drew attention with an intense intra-team battle. The two came close to colliding several times and were urged to calm down, although that warning became unnecessary midway through the race when Russell retired with car trouble.
The Guardian says that after just five races it is “too early” to draw definitive conclusions, but adds: “There is no doubt George Russell will have cursed his misfortune after his championship ambitions took a serious blow in Montreal.”
Antonelli now has a 43-point lead over his British team-mate. “Russell will be wondering what he has to do to catch a break in what increasingly looks like a two-way title fight with his Italian team-mate.”
Before Russell’s retirement, however, the reporter thoroughly enjoyed the duel, describing it as a “textbook example of racing”. “Russell had to produce several brilliant, determined defensive moves, while Antonelli was, as always, an unstoppable force and a joy to watch. Back and forth they went: neither was flawless, as both drivers locked up and made small mistakes, but neither could gain a decisive advantage. It was wonderful to watch, with nothing to separate them.”
Marca: “Max Verstappen rewards himself in a difficult weekend”
Spanish outlet Marca also pays plenty of attention to the Mercedes duel, but notes that the team “has a problem”. “The problem is not only that Antonelli is pulling away, but that Leclerc is getting closer and the gap between them is now just 13 points. At the moment, Russell is closer to third place than he is to catching Antonelli. There is still a long championship ahead, but the signs are not the best for the Briton, who has not won for more than four races and has missed the podium for the second race in a row.”
The outlet also focuses on what happened behind the two protagonists. In the reporter’s view, McLaren endured a “nightmare” in Canada because of the wrong tyre gamble at the start of the race. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, “rewarded” himself in a “difficult weekend in which he looked highly frustrated” by taking third place.
“It is true that McLaren’s double non-score and Russell’s retirement helped him onto the podium and allowed him to take fifteen valuable points,” Marca adds as a caveat. “With this third place, the Dutchman remains seventh in the championship, but he has closed the gap to Piastri to just five points.”
La Gazzetta dello Sport: “Antonelli writes a new chapter in F1 history”
After this race, Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport is increasingly daring to believe that “their” Antonelli could well win an F1 title this year. “The Mercedes driver from Bologna won the Canadian Grand Prix and with it recorded his fourth consecutive victory, something no driver had ever achieved in the first winning streak of his career. Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher stopped at three; in Montreal, our phenomenon wrote a new chapter in Formula 1 history.
“On the podium, Lewis Hamilton stood to his right and Max Verstappen to his left, in second and third. Together, they account for 11 world titles: the two great dominant drivers in the recent history of this sport, now condemned to supporting roles on the lower steps of the podium. We must remain calm and not dream too much. But today’s image is a very powerful and very clear message about what Kimi intends to do.”
The standings are looking “increasingly favourable” for Antonelli, according to the Italian outlet. “And that while Russell’s situation is becoming anything but straightforward. The reason is clear: if Antonelli can perform so strongly even at a circuit that suits George, it is hard to imagine what might happen elsewhere. Antonelli truly has the championship in his hands, especially as Mercedes confirmed it has no rivals.”
L’Équipe: “Difficult to list all the duels and mistakes by the Mercedes drivers”
The forecast rain never arrived, but L’Équipe says there was still “spectacle” in Montreal. “Toto Wolff’s heart must have been pounding, a day after the words exchanged following the incidents between the two team-mates during the sprint race,” the French outlet writes. “But overall, everything went well between the Briton and the Italian. It is difficult to list all the duels or mistakes made by the two drivers, because there were so many.”
“Once freed from that battle, Antonelli was able to manage his race and quickly pull away,” the reporter adds. “But the race was not over, because in the closing laps there was another duel: who would finish behind the Italian? Max Verstappen held on to second place for a long time, but on lap 62 of 68 he had to concede to Lewis Hamilton.”
Finally, L’Équipe also describes the race as a “total nightmare” for McLaren, with Lando Norris eventually retiring and Oscar Piastri finishing only 11th. “McLaren paid dearly for its strategic error and endured a total nightmare in this race, with Lando Norris retiring due to a mechanical problem on lap 40 and a ten-second time penalty for Oscar Piastri, who finished eleventh after contact with Alex Albon’s Williams at the hairpin.”
