F1’s Kimi Antonelli seeks to extend sensational start with fourth win

MONTREAL – Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli is seeking a sensational fourth consecutive victory to boost his Formula One drivers’ title bid on May 24, but expects a robust response from Mercedes teammate George Russell at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The 19-year-old rising star of Italian sport leads the Briton, nine years his senior and the pre-season favourite for the title, by 20 points after four rounds of the 22-race championship as Mercedes unveil a major upgrade package.

For Russell, it is important to re-establish his authority in the team after two fourth-place finishes allowed his teammate to revel in being the sole Silver Arrows man at the top of the podium.

“I am expecting George, for sure, to be super strong again in Canada,” said Antonelli, whose precocious talent, wide smile and curly hair have become an image of Italian sporting optimism following their football team’s failure to qualify for the World Cup.

“He’s always been strong in Montreal and he won last year, so I have to be ready and be fully focused. I will do my best.”

In addition to his hat-trick of pole, victory and fastest lap in 2025, Russell took pole at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2024 and will fancy his chances of winning both May 23’s sprint race and May 24’s Grand Prix.

In 2025, Antonelli was fourth on the grid and finished third, his first podium finish.

This time, he hopes to be the first Italian since Alberto Ascari, who reeled off six, in 1952 to claim four straight wins.

Mercedes’ team chief Toto Wolff has sidestepped frenzied talk of Antonelli’s prospects to concentrate on keeping balanced and cool.

“Performance is only performance when it is delivered on track,” he stressed.

“We are just four races into the season and there is a long year ahead.

“It is an important race for us, but it does not decide anything. So we stay balanced, keep learning and execute as well as we can.”

The championship-leading Silver Arrows are likely to be challenged by Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull, with four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen, who took part at the Nurburgring 24-Hours race last weekend, aiming to add to his three previous wins for Red Bull.

Verstappen was the runner-up in Canada in 2025, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished fourth.

Lewis Hamilton and his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc will also be strong contenders, despite team boss Fred Vasseur grumbling about rule changes, notably to the starting procedures, that have negated an advantage they enjoyed.

“It was a bit harsh for us,” Frenchman Vasseur said of the introduction of a blue-light five-second warning to ensure teams spooled up their turbos.

“I understand what they did, for safety grounds, but the other option would have been to ask the others to start from the pit lane if they think it’s not safe.”

Local organisers are expecting a record crowd, with increased capacity and more Canadians buying tickets while demand from the United States and elsewhere has held steady.

Lance Stroll will be the only Canadian in the race but, like teammate Fernando Alonso, has little optimism as Aston Martin have struggled for performance with an uncompetitive Honda engine.

The 44-year-old Alonso of Spain has hinted he is likely to retire from F1 and will decide his future during the summer months of the European leg of the season.

Montreal also hosts F2 for the first time, after rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia had to be cancelled due to the Iran war.
REUTERS, AFP