Canadian GP Sprint Race Preview: George Russell vs Kimi Antonelli in the spotlight

The top four teams are hogging the top eight places very orderly. Row 1: all Mercedes. Row 2: all McLaren. Row 3: all Ferrari. Row 4: all Red Bull. Seldom do we get such a blatant pecking order stamped on proceedings during a Grand Prix weekend.

Prior to the engines firing up in Montreal, the evidence from Miami was that McLaren were back on it and, in fact, probably had the better car last time out. After all, Lando Norris won the Sprint and might have won the race had McLaren got the maths right. But Mercedes had yet to unveil an update package on the formidable W17; this weekend was when the fast bits were added to the car.

While it’s never a given that upgrades actually make the cars go faster as intended, and Mercedes have been victims of upgrades that have gone backwards in the past, this time they nailed it. The car is better. The car is faster. Hogging the front row as they did is testament to that, with quite the statement on the day not only from the team but also from George Russell.

Prior to this, George had lost three races in a row to his precocious teammate Kimi Antonelli. It was time for excuses to run out, and, credit to the pole winner, he delivered. He put down a stonking lap that got him the P1 start for today’s mini race.

Shout-out to Antonelli once again for delivering when it really mattered. Seemingly out of contention at one stage during qualifying, he delivered a strong lap under huge pressure once again to secure the Silver Arrows front row.

Toto Wolff’s smile said it all, as the kid crossed the line popping to P2 on the timing screens. Russell vs Antoinelli is the headline story, today at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Close but not close enough and encouraging were the McLarens, considering how they got off to this season. By the time the dust had settled, Norris had put his McLaren P3 and Oscar Piastri in P4. But the worry for McLaren is the three-tenths gap to the leaders when the chips were down. That is a worry. That is a gulf, especially considering they are using the same power units.

Next up was the Ferrari duo, with Hamilton, for once, getting the better of his teammate. The seven-time Formula 1 World Champion and seven-time winner around Montreal was in fine form through most of the Quali session, but that promise ended in disappointment as he had to settle for P5. The positive for him is that he was almost a tenth quicker than his Leclerc, who has previously all but owned his teammate.

Max Verstappen heads Row 4 with his teammate Isack Hadjar lining up beside him. The Dutchman is clearly still not at ease in the Red Bull in its current state. Hadjar, who needs to make up for his Miami gaffe, did well to be within a tenth of the #3 car.

And probably relieved that he was a tenth or so quicker than Arvid Lindblad in the Racing Bulls. The young Briton continues to impress and is next in line to be promoted if Hadjar does not live up to the lofty expectations of being number two in that team.

Rounding out the top 10, Carlos Sainz put in a gargantuan effort to put the Williams P10. This is a vast improvement for James Vowles’ team, which started this season on the back foot but appear to be recovering faster than teams that were ahead of them when the season got going, which suggests a handy package.

A package that might have been troublesome in the beginning but is finding a sweet spot now. Or the car they have now is probably the car they should have had in Melbourne had it not been for the delays. Nevertheless, a good effort to be in the top 10 for a team that struggled to get out of Q1 not long ago.

In terms of how the race will unwind, it’s hard to see anyone beating the Mercedes, but you never know with Antonelli in the mix. If he gets a good start and Russell doesn’t, or if the Italian somehow manages to get ahead of his teammate at some point in the short sprint, he may once again tear up the script that has his teammate winning this one.

It should be a Mercedes 1-2 if Friday’s pace is anything to go by. Will Ferrari challenge McLaren?

It’ll be interesting to see because they are known to get off the line really quickly, and if Lewis gets himself a head of steam and the clock gets going, there could be a red car on the podium at the end of the race.

But Norris seems to be in a fighting mood, and Piastri will be looking to find the kind of magic he had last year at this time when he all but owned Norris. And, of course, you can never discount Verstappen, but it’s clear by the half-second deficit to poleman Russell that this car needs a lot of work. Will it be better on race pace? Well, we’ll know later today.

Beyond that, Audi in P11 and P12 will be a relief for them. Time for them to get going, while Alpine will be scratching their heads trying to find out where the pace went. Pierre Gasly was remarkably slow and only good for P19, while Franco Colapinto saw his stock rise with a strong showing to place the Alpine P13 on the grid.

Contrary to the guys further up the grid, Haas upgrades clearly did not work. A team that was good for the top 10 now finds itself in P14 and P15, with Esteban Ocon getting the better of Ollie Bearman for a change.

Aston Martin is also edging its way up the grid with its contraption. As always, Alonso is getting more out of it than Stroll for the 41st time in a row. But the Spaniard, perhaps trying too hard, binned it but nevertheless ended P16, with Stroll in P18.

The Cadillacs were also trundling around the Île Notre-Dame, seemingly doing a spot of leisurely sightseeing relative to the fast guys. Sergio Perez was P17, and Valtteri Bottas was P20.

The reality is that the podium is likely to come from the top six or so drivers at the sharp end of the grid. While it’s closer at the top, the truth of the matter is four seconds divides Russell's Mercedes in P1 from Cadillac's Bottas in P20.

Last year that gap was 1.7 seconds. Clearly something’s not right with this formula, because that’s not progress. Enjoy the Sprint!