MONTREAL.- The Italian prodigy Kimi Antonelli will arrive this weekend at Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix under pressure from his British partner in mercedes, George Russelland of the McLaren of the world champion Lando Norris and of Oscar Piastri.
Although the 19-year-old driver has won three races in a row (China, Japan and Miami) and Russell the first of the season in Australiathe outlook for Mercedes now seems less ultrafavorable.
McLaren, double constructors’ world champion in 2024 and 2025, ended the German team’s invincibility in early May in Miami with a double in the sprint race, followed on Sunday by second and third positions in the Grand Prix.
“Our rivals took a step forward in Miami and we have to respond,” warned the Mercedes boss, Toto Wolffwhich will lead to Montreal “the first evolutions of the year” in the chassis and aerodynamics of its extremely high-performance single-seaters.
But the former Austrian driver and businessman warned in a statement that “performance is only true when it is confirmed on the track.”
Their cars will have the opportunity to test their progress in the one-hour mini-race on Saturday and in the Grand Prix on Sunday, of 70 laps of 4.361 km each, on the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit.
The track is highly appreciated by drivers due to its straights, chicanes and tight curves. The infrastructure was built half a century ago on an artificial island in Quebec’s largest city.
Russell’s ambition
With 100 points, Antonelli leads the drivers’ world championship standings, 20 units ahead of his ambitious and experienced teammate, Russell.
Opposite, McLaren declared herself “revived” after her performances in Miami. The team based in the south of London It will continue in Montreal with the improvements in the cars of the British Norris and the Australian Piastri.
Second in the constructors’ world championship, Ferrari and his drivers, the seven-time British world champion Lewis Hamiltonand the Monegasque Charles Leclercare, as usual, rather discreet about their ambitions and the evolution of the car.
The Scuderia is pleased, however, that the Canadian Grand Prix be “the most popular” among tifosi of all races in North Americawhere there are also events in Miami, austin, vegas and Mexico.
Unlike its regional peers, the Canadian contest is transformed into an open-air festival for hundreds of thousands of fans for four days.
Praising the “magnificent atmosphere in the city and around the track”, the French director of the Italian team, Frederic Vasseurwarned, however, of the need for its pilots to redouble their attention.
“We will have to be sharp from the first” training sessions and qualifying on Friday and Saturday, he said in a statement.
Especially since the brakes and chassis are put to a tough test on the “demanding” Gilles-Villeneuve circuit and cool temperatures are announced for this weekend, he added.
Red Bull in trouble
Last of the four great teams, Red Bull is experiencing a difficult start to the season, although it raised its head in Miami thanks to the fifth place of its superstar, Max Verstappen.
But the Dutch quadruple world champion has been attacking the new regulations for months, which imposed hybrid engines and revolutionized the way of driving an F1.
Verstappen even threatens to abandon the queen discipline of motor sport to move to resistance.
And last weekend he returned very disappointed after failing in his bid to achieve a first victory in the 24 Hours of Nurburgringin Germanywith his Mercedes AMG in the category GT3.
“Max is at the heart of the project. He is with us on all issues. He is involved in all our strategic decisions for the future,” he recently told AFP. Laurent Mekiesdirector of Red Bull.
Montreal will, however, be a scene of new hope for the Argentine Franco Colapintowho in the “Capital of the Sun” added for the first time in the season by finishing in seventh position with his Alpine.
