Winners and losers from F1's 2026 Canada sprint race

Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix sprint was extremely fraught at the front - and it’s that battle that (mostly) fills out both columns of our winners and losers list.

Loser: Kimi Antonelli (3rd)

Without Kimi Antonelli’s feud with George Russell, this sprint could’ve been forgettable, so, while Antonelli’s being placed in the loser column, that’s not to say his driving wasn’t the highlight.

Antonelli could have finished second if he hadn’t run across the grass after losing the Turn 1 battle against Russell. Worse still, he almost lost the car in the second incident at Turns 8-9. Maybe he was ‘driving angry’, maybe he was rattled; it’s also likely his tyres picked up a lot of debris after his Turn 1 off.

It’s easy to see why Antonelli was annoyed given Russell’s driving but the young Italian let it show and annoyed his Mercedes boss in the process. A valuable learning experience, and thankfully nothing worse than that for Kimi. - Samarth Kanal

Winner: George Russell (1st)

This looked like hard work. If I'm being totally honest, it looked like harder work than it probably should be.

But after four consecutive races of finishing (on the road) behind his team-mate, Russell has turned the tide here, and he's a winner just for managing to avoid the alternative outcome. 

Another defeat to Antonelli - who continues to look a far more relentless foe than his experience deficit of over 100 grand prix starts versus Russell would suggest - would've been far more damaging to his title prospects than a two/three-point swing would suggest. - Valentin Khorounzhiy

Loser: Mercedes (New angst)

We say 'every point matters' but come Abu Dhabi, if Mercedes loses either the drivers' or constructors' title, the odds are overwhelming that it won't lose either by just one point. So, 1-2, 1-3, 2-3 - whatever, the big points are tomorrow.

Also, a team boss as experienced as Toto Wolff - even in a vacuum, without the specific experience of the 2014-15-16 Hamilton/Rosberg dynamic - will have always known a day like today is coming this season, with two drivers facing their first real chance at the title and Antonelli too fast to allow a walkover.

So we don't have to over-dramatise. But what we can say - what I'm sure of - is that Mercedes would have loved for this moment to come later.

The later, the better. The later in the season, the less time you need to manage the intensity of a title rivalry. The less time there is for significant baggage to form.

Unfortunately, the way Antonelli hounded Russell suggests he is acutely aware that chances are only one person stands between him and a first F1 title - the bloke on the other side of the garage. The way Russell defended suggests he has long come to a similar realisation.

It's obvious, sure. But the more they both know this to be true, the harder it gets for Mercedes. - VK

Winner: F1's 2026 title fight

Sorry Mercedes, but we need more of this. After its upgraded car qualified a comfortable 1-2 and then didn’t even go backwards at the start, those tepid opening laps felt ominous until Antonelli launched his attacks.

With the rest of the field already being cut adrift in the points, either Antonelli just building his lead over Russell from here or Russell flipping the form and taking the title most expected him to after about three laps of Melbourne would’ve made for a grinding season with so many months and so many races still to go - unless there was some extra spice in this all-Mercedes battle.

Now there might be - Matt Beer

Loser: The TV direction

One of the most exciting 2026 races so far was let down by some of the weakest TV direction we’ve seen this year.

Take the key Russell vs Antonelli flashpoint at the first corner, for example. We had a bizarre artistic angle as they approached the corner side-by-side, rather than one that showed what was happening.

Then there was the lack of replays of the Turn 8/9 incident, with some angles only showing on the small second screen on the timing tower - hardly ideal for anyone trying to work out who was at fault.

The long-held obsession with showing a pitstop of any kind - even for a driver with zero hope of finishing in the points - rather than the actual lead battle on track, also continued. - Josh Suttill

Winner: Cadillac (Ran 11th!)

A post-race penalty for forcing off his 'best friend forever' Liam Lawson means Sergio Perez's eye-catching 11th turned into a relatively unremarkable 14th in the classification.

No matter. It's the same amount of points either way (and sprint finishes are irrelevant for points tiebreaks), and Cadillac can definitely pat itself on the back for a race in which its MAC-26 successfully camouflaged itself among the cars produced by established midfield regulars.

A puzzling lack of performance from Esteban Ocon's Haas coupled with Ocon so ably playing cork-in-the-bottle despite it probably helped muddy the waters, in the sense that in terms of peak pace the Cadillac was still the second-slowest car - but it was quick enough to stay in the mix. - VK

Losers: Midfielders in the sprint format

Yes, they finished a race, yes, they gained valuable learning about their cars and the tyres, but, I doubt it was very rewarding for Colapinto and Sainz to cross the line in ninth and 10th, without points. I doubt it felt rewarding as a fan of either driver.

And they actually properly participated in the race. Many behind didn't.

The fact several teams felt it was better to just start from the pitlane and sacrifice the race to try to troubleshoot issues or test new ideas ahead of qualifying, or made pitstops to try different tyres, shows just how little value the sprint has to so many from a competitive perspective.

Some drivers also talked about not wanting to risk any damage or complications with qualifying just a couple of hours away - which also explains one or two of the pitstops as a precautionary measure.

It's not a particularly new thought that the sprint needs to have more value for more drivers but this situation exposed that quite harshly.

The bigger picture is that F1 hasn’t found out how to make the sprint relevant beyond, say, the fleeting battle for the lead.

If 12, instead of 24 cars, started the sprint, would you notice? Or care? - SK

Winner: Lando Norris (2nd)

Lando Norris had a front row seat to Russell and Antonelli’s gloves-off battle and leapt at his chance to claim second place when Antonelli skated across the grass at the Turn 8/9 chicane. 

Thereafter, Norris kept Russell on his toes and Antonelli in his mirrors - managing a penultimate lap Antonelli attack well and bringing home second place. 

Norris believed he was “lucky” to be second and thinks Mercedes is out of reach on pure pace. But McLaren looks clear of Ferrari and Red Bull this weekend as Mercedes’ closest rival, so Norris can be well poised to take advantage of any further dramas. - JS

Loser: Lewis Hamilton (6th)

There’s been plenty of really encouraging flashes from Lewis Hamilton this weekend, but each session seems to be ending in disappointment. 

He looked in the mix for a top three in sprint qualifying, only to end up fifth. And in the sprint race Hamilton made a good start to overtake Oscar Piastri and was on the back of the final podium place.

But then Hamilton’s pace tailed off and suddenly he was only looking rearwards. 

Piastri made a forceful move at the final chicane that meant Hamilton also slipped behind Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, leaving him an underwhelming sixth when he’s teased the potential for much better in Montreal. - JS

Winner: Arvid Lindblad (8th)

Arvid Lindblad was very much the best of the rest here. He picked up a point by holding off Alpine’s Franco Colapinto (also a very good performance by the Argentinian) and finished one place behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen - in the Racing Bulls.

Meanwhile, Lindblad's team-mate Liam Lawson was more than 30 seconds behind in 11th and Isack Hadjar had engine issues that classified him 21st. A solid performance in Canada to arrest a run of three frustrating point-less weekends after that great debut drive in Australia. - SK

Loser: Isack Hadjar (21st)

Isack Hadjar bounced back strongly from a bruising Miami Grand Prix error by qualifying right alongside Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen on Friday. 

But it all went wrong early in the race as Hadjar’s RB22 was struck by an engine issue, dropping him out of the points and three laps down while Red Bull worked on the issue. 

It’s only one point lost, but the issue cost him any chance to benchmark himself directly against Verstappen, who he was running just behind beforehand. - JS