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F1 2026: Canadian Grand Prix race updates – live | Formula One 2026
Key events
Lap 29/68: “Both cars need to race without risk” is the word from George Russell’s engineer as Kimi Antonelli gets a similar message.
Lap 28/68: Antonelli is still very close to Russell as the pair lead from Verstappen, six seconds back in third with Hamilton another five second back in fourth.
Lap 27/68: Fernando Alonso has retired from the race after a challenging the weekend. Apparently Mercedes have told their drivers to “tidy it up” – ie stop almost driving one another off the track. Russell leads Antonelli. For now.
“What’s the point?” Antonelli complains on the radio, but he gives back the lead to Russell. George isn’t happy about where Kimi gave him the place back!
The gloves are: off.
Lap 25/68: Russell retakes the lead as Antonelli locks up at the hairpin! Kimi charges to retake – do they touch?? Maybe not quite. Antonelli gets the lead back but is told to give back P1 as he went off to gain track position.
Lap 24/68: So Antonelli leads! Piastrai gets a 10-second penalty for that incident with Albon. The Mercedes cars both pass the world champion Norris. The McLarens are not having a fun race.
Lap 23/68: Antonelli is all over Russell like ants on a Snickers. He draws alongside him on the straight and this time makes it stick! It was coming – the teenage Italian is back in the lead.
Lap 21/68: The stewards and doling out penalties for yellow flag infringements but none effecting the leaders. The Mercedes come up to lap Norris.
Lap 20/68: Alex Albon is out of the race after that clash with Piastri. The Mercedes drivers are five seconds ahead of Verstappen in third. There’s barely anything between George and Kimi at the front.
Lap 18/68: The Mercedes at the front are giving us terrific entertainment as they joust for the lead. Antonelli is right on the back of his teammate.
Lap 17/68: Russell locks up on the corner, Antonelli can’t quite capitalise but they are wheel to wheel on the straight! Nothing in it! Russell just hangs on as Antonelli makes the smart move and backs off. But he is ready to pounce if Russell locks up again.
Lap 16/68: Lando Norris has to come in for an early second stop due to a mechanical issue. Junk in the sidepods, speculates Martin Brundle. He’s back out but down in 14th.
Lap 15/68: Russel is seven-tenths ahead of Antonelli as they spar for the lead. This is terrific stuff. Though you suspect Toto Wolff has everything clenched.
Lap 14/68: They’re changing Oscar Piastri’s wing, he’s clearly had some kind of incident. A collision with Alex Albon, apparently, the Williams driver an innocent party. The McLaren team get Piastri back out but he’s almost a lap down.
Lap 12/68: Antonelli overtakes Russell! Then Russell takes back P1 almost instantly! They’re almost wheel to wheel at the start of lap 13. Cat and mouse stuff as the Mercedes tussle at the front. Some debris on the track means we’re on a yellow card.
Lap 11/68: Oliver Bearman is up in ninth after starting in 16th. Norris is gradually making up places – he’s in 11th after that early pit stop. But he’s 33 seconds behind the leaders.
Lap 10/68: Russell has a one-second lead from Antonelli at the front. Verstappen is a further two second behind after passing Hamilton. Leclerc is fifth, a place behind his teammate.
Lap 9/68: Max Verstappen brakes late and overtakes Hamilton’s Ferrari to grab third spot! “I’ve got no power – come on guys,” says Hamilton on the radio.
Lap 8/68: Russell – who started in pole has slipped to third at the start – got back to second when Norris stopped, and is now in P1 after overtaking Antonelli. He’s starting to build a lead at front now.
Lap 6/68: Russell is in the lead! He goes up the outside of Antonelli, who locks up, goes off in a plume of tyre smoke – he recovers but Russell zooms ahead of him.
Lap 5/68: Norris goes over the chicane in 14th. He’s having an eventful race … Russell is half a second behind Antonelli at the front. Hamilton is keeping pace with them for now, with Verstappen in hot pursuit. Every driver who started on intermediates has changed them.
Lap 3/68: Antonelli leads from Russell, Hamilton third, Verstappen fourth. Both McLarens are down in the midfield after pitting. That rocket start from Norris was for nothing, though he is ahead of his teammate.
Lap 2/68: Antonelli also got ahead of Russell in that breathless start. He’s about to be leading as Norris is going to copy his teammate is pitting to change tyres. Lewis Hamilton is third.
Lap 1/68: Remarkable start from Norris who overtook both Mercedes at the start! His teammate Piastri dropped back, however. He’s going straight into the pits to change tyres.
Lights out!
We are go in Montreal at the second time of asking. Lando Norris shoots into the lead!
We’re on the extra formation lap, which means we’ll have a 68-lap – rather than 70-lap – race. It looks reasonably dry on the track. Have McLaren made an error with the intermediates?
Arvid Lindblad’s car is being pushed off the grid, unlucky for him. He won’t start in ninth.
An extra formation lap! The start was abandoned, I think there was a problem with Arvid Lindblad’s car – his car wouldn’t go into gear. Kimi Antonelli moved slowly off the line first but he won’t be penalised at all, as it’s an aborted start.
The formation lap is under way. Seven drivers are on intermediate tyres – including both McLarens – there’s plenty of tyre variety on the grid. The Mercedes are both on the soft compound.
It actually looks pretty misty in Montreal. Headlights up to full beam, lads? We’re just minutes away from the start!
“It’s a really hard choice between the intermediates and the slicks,” Sergio Perez tells Martin. “It’s gonna be slidey,” adds Lando Norris with a wolfish grin.
“Slippery when wet,” says Max Verstappen, four-time F1 world champion and (possibly) Bon Jovi fan.
Martin Brundle is doing his grid walk in a gusty Montreal. The teams are pretty occupied in heating their tyres.
“It feels like his kind of day,” says Brundle as he walks past Verstappen’s car in sixth place. “Max tends to have a sixth sense about where the braking is.”
“One of the best tracks in the world,” assesses Lewis Hamilton, who loves the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve and has a joint-record seven F1 wins here.
The rapid street circuit does tend to be popular with drivers, offering decent overtaking opportunities. Could be less popular today if it starts tipping it down, mind you.
Too early in the season for drivers’ championship standings? Perhaps. But here they are.
1) Kimi Antonelli 106pts
2) George Russell 88pts
3) Charles Leclerc 63pts
4) Lando Norris 58pts
5) Lewis Hamilton 54pts
6) Oscar Piastri 48pts
7) Max Verstappen 28pts
8) Oliver Bearman 17pts
George Russell is trying out the intermediates as the drivers in the warm-up test the best tyres for the conditions. It’s likely too dry for those right now, but there’s spots of rain about and it looks very chilly in Montreal.
“We had a meeting yesterday and it’s all good, everything is settled,” says a smiling Kimi Antonelli as he’s asked trackside about his flashpoint with George Russell during yesterday’s sprint race.
Toto Wolff will not want a repeat of Canada last year when two teammates – McLaren, not Mercedes – collided on the track.
“All the drivers will be nervous of this – it’s into the unknown,” says Martin Brundle on Sky, holding an umbrella above his head. “A magical mystery tour.” (All you need is wets?)
“This will be George and Kimi’s nightmare,” adds Jamie Chadwick of the conditions.
Call me Phil Connors because I’m bringing you the weather updates: it’s windy at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve but not raining. Yet. The start should be OK for just under an hour.
Pole to flag: all four races this season have been won by the pole-sitter (Russell first, Antonelli with the past three), though they’ve hardly been processions.
Good news for George … in theory. But that streak won’t last all season. Is today the day it changes? The weather could certainly add an element of chaos, especially as we don’t exactly know how these cars will behave in wet race conditions.
The grid in Montreal
How they will line up on the Île Notre-Dame. Start time is still 9pm BST (4pm local), weather permitting.
1) George Russell (Mercedes)
2) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
3) Lando Norris (McLaren)
4) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
5) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
6) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
7) Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)
8) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
9) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
10) Franco Colapinto (Alpine
11) Nico Hülkenberg (Audi)
12) Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
13) Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)
14) Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
15) Carlos Sainz (Williams)
16) Oliver Bearman (Haas)
17) Esteban Ocon (Audi)
18) Alex Albon (Williams)
19) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
20) Sergio Perez (Cadillac)
21) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
22) Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)
Weather update: it’s raining right now in Montreal, apparently. It may mean a delay in the race start or it could clear up and/or avoid the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Any news on start times as we get it!
Preamble
Hold on, is that the sight of sparks flying in the Mercedes garage? Metaphorically, of course. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli have played the roles “the gent” and “tenacious teen” for the first four races of this F1 season. But with it becoming increasingly clear that it’s likely to be a straight shootout between the teammates for the drivers’ title, we’ve seen the first flash of friction between the pair in Montreal.
A clash during the sprint race when Antonelli attempted to overtake Russell left the Italian fuming and Toto Wolff had to intervene, telling him to “stop the radio moaning”. Russell held on for victory, Lando Norris splitting the Mercs, though it’s a Russell-Antonelli front row for today’s race after the Briton pipped his teammate by six-hundredths of a second in qualifying.
Antonelli, the championship leader by 18 points, has won the last three races of a stop-start season. But Russell likes this track – it’s his third pole in a row here. Plus there’s a 60% chance of rain and a chasing pack including Norris and Oscar Piastri in third and fourth, Lewis Hamilton starting fifth and Max Verstappen rounding off the top six. Intriguing!
The Canadian GP is due to start at 9pm BST – feel free to email in with your thoughts, hopes and dreams.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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