Kimi Antonelli topped Mercedes team-mate George Russell in Friday’s sole Canadian Grand Prix practice session in Montreal, edging him by 0.142 seconds as the team’s first major upgrade package of the season made its track debut.
The 19-year-old Antonelli set the pace despite three red-flag stoppages that repeatedly broke up the hour. Liam Lawson triggered the first when his car stopped with a technical issue. Alex Albon brought out the second after crashing his Williams when he hit a groundhog. Esteban Ocon caused the third after losing control of his Haas and hitting the barriers at high speed.
Mercedes ended the session on top, with Russell second after the team adjusted to the upgraded car on a day that mixed speed with stop-start chaos. The session was extended by 19 minutes to make up for time lost under the first two red flags, but that added running still left little room for clean laps. Russell also had a late scare of his own when he spun off track and tapped a barrier in the closing stages, though he avoided major damage and made it back to the pit lane.
Lewis Hamilton was almost eight tenths of a second slower than Antonelli in third for Ferrari, and he finished almost two tenths clear of team-mate Charles Leclerc in fourth. Max Verstappen was fifth, just behind Leclerc, while Lando Norris ended sixth, 1.3 seconds off Antonelli’s pace. Oscar Piastri was seventh, a further couple of tenths behind Norris.
The session carried extra weight because it was the only practice of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. Mercedes arrived in Montreal with its first major upgrade package of the season after winning each of the first four races earlier in the year, and Russell had won at this circuit last season. McLaren also brought upgrades in Miami, but in Montreal both of its drivers made errors during their flying laps, leaving them with more questions than answers before Sprint Qualifying, scheduled for 9.30 p.m. ET with build-up from 9 p.m.
For Mercedes, Antonelli’s lap was the cleanest answer in a session that offered few clean laps at all. For everyone else, Friday was a reminder that in Montreal the margin between a fast car and a ruined one can be a barrier, a groundhog or a moment of lost control.
