MONTREAL — Italian teen Kimi Antonelli charged to his fourth straight Formula 1 victory Sunday in a wild Canadian Grand Prix after teammate George Russell was knocked out by an engine failure.
The title-chasing Mercedes drivers put on a show in a thrilling battle through the first 30 laps — trading the lead several times and coming dangerously close to making contact — until Russell ran into trouble.
That gave the 19-year-old Antonelli a clear path to victory ahead of seven-time F1 Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari, who overtook four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen of for second place with six laps to go in cold and windy conditions at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
“It was a really fun battle, to be fair, with George. We were pretty much on the limit,” Antonelli said. “It was very close, and it was a shame for him to have the failure, because it would have been a very cool battle. But we’ll take it.”
Antonelli opened a 43-point lead over Russell in the season standings through five of 22 scheduled GP races. After Russell won the season opener in Australia, Antonelli won in China, Japan and Miami.