Canadian Grand Prix sprint results

George Russell won the Canadian Grand Prix sprint on Saturday, May 23, giving Mercedes victory in the 23-lap race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. F1i’s published classification showed Russell finishing in 28 minutes 50.951 seconds, 1.272 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, with Mercedes teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli third. Ferrari placed both cars in the points, with Charles Leclerc fifth and Lewis Hamilton sixth, while Max Verstappen finished seventh. ### How did the sprint finish in Montreal? F1i’s results listed Russell first, Norris second and Antonelli third in the top three places for round five of the 2026 Formula 1 season. Oscar Piastri finished fourth for McLaren, ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton for Ferrari, with Verstappen seventh and Arvid Lindblad eighth for Racing Bulls. Franco Colapinto was ninth for Alpine and Carlos Sainz 10th for Williams. (f1i.com) F1i’s full classification also showed Fernando Alonso as the only retirement, while the field included Cadillac drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas in 14th and 17th. The sprint result gave Mercedes two cars in the top three after Russell had started from sprint pole. ### Why was Antonelli not second after locking out the front row with Russell? (f1i.com) F1i reported that Antonelli’s fight with Russell became one of the central moments of the sprint, with the Mercedes drivers running close before Antonelli lost ground. Its race report said Antonelli ran wide while trying to challenge Russell and later dropped behind Norris. (f1i.com) F1i had earlier reported that Russell beat Antonelli to sprint qualifying pole on Friday, with the two Mercedes drivers locking out the front row in Montreal. Russell’s pole lap came after what F1i described as a strong showing for an upgraded Mercedes package at the Canadian weekend. ### Where did Ferrari stand, and what did Hamilton say before the sprint? (f1i.com) Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth for the sprint and later finished sixth in the race, one place behind teammate Leclerc. RacingNews365 reported on Friday that Hamilton said sprint qualifying in Canada was “the best I’ve felt” in 2026 after Ferrari made what the outlet described as a major step. (f1i.com) RacingNews365 also reported that Hamilton defended his decision not to use a simulator before the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. The outlet said the seven-time world champion had continued that approach while Ferrari introduced changes that improved his feeling in the car. ### What did the sprint say about the teams at the front? (racingnews365.com) Mercedes put two cars in the top three in the sprint, while McLaren split the pair through Norris’s second place. Ferrari scored with both drivers but finished behind the lead Mercedes and Norris, and Red Bull took seventh with Verstappen. Those positions came after sprint qualifying had put Russell, Antonelli, Norris and Piastri in the top four on the grid. (racingnews365.com) The official Formula 1 results page and F1i’s classification matched on Russell’s victory and the leading finishers in Montreal. F1i separately posted the sprint race results and a race report from the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve session on Saturday. ### What comes next in Canada? Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix weekend continues with the main grand prix in Montreal. (f1i.com) F1i also published the full qualifying result for the grand prix, with Russell taking pole position ahead of Antonelli after the sprint. The next official classification for this event will come from Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with Russell, Antonelli, Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton and Verstappen among the leading starters. (formula1.com) (f1i.com)