18:36
Whoa! A 1m13.402s for Antonelli puts him 0.448s clear of his team-mate. That gauntlet we mentioned has well and truly been taken up.
Leclerc in Canada, with Geese
© XPB Images
F1 2026 Canadian Grand Prix Friday practice and sprint qualifying as it happened
Live coverage of Friday at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Antonelli leads Mercedes 1-2 in FP1
- Albon misses Sprint Qualifying after groundhog clash in FP1
- Alonso crashes to cause red flag, but makes SQ2
The fifth round of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place at the Canadian Grand Prix.
While the vast majority of teams brought significant upgrade packages to the Miami Grand Prix, Mercedes kept its powder dry, and has brought its first major upgrade to Montreal. With the team having been victorious in all four rounds so far, there is intrigue as to the margin the team will be able to pull with its new parts, especially as the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is usually a strong venue for Mercedes.
McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull will hope to have closed the gap with additional upgrades, although notably smaller, to their own cars.
Max Verstappen has stolen plenty of the limelight, with his exploits at the Nurburgring 24 Hours a key talking point among drivers in the paddock.
Esteban Ocon and Haas have been forced to dismiss suggestions that they could part company imminently, with reports described as b******* by both the driver and team principal Ayao Komatsu having circled during the week, suggesting an argument had taken place between the pair in Miami.
As this is a sprint weekend, there will be just one practice session taking place before sprint qualifying on Friday evening.
Unlike in Miami, where there had been a significant break in the lead-up, the practice session will last just one hour.
2026 Canadian Grand Prix Friday schedule
Sprint qualifying: 9:30pm BST - 10:14pm BST
22 May 2026
18:34
A 1m13.850s is the new benchmark as Russell throws down the gauntlet to his championship-leading team-mate.
18:33
New softs for Russell. This will almost certainly vault him to the top of the times, but Antonelli is just leaving the pits on fresh softs himself.
18:32
Uh oh. Stroll may now be on the track, but Alonso's Aston Martin now has significant focus on it. Fingers crossed that it's only setup work.
18:31
An engine change for Colapinto has been confirmed, leaving Alpine with a race against time ahead of Sprint Qualifying.
18:30
Hamilton is the latest driver to lock up and make use of the Tarmac runoff at the final chicane.
18:27
Demonstrating his battles with the Red Bull, Verstappen locks up and hops the grass at Turn 8.
18:26
Verstappen believes he may have a diff issue, with snaps being reported as he changes gear exiting corners.
18:26
With 25 minutes remaining:
- Antonelli
- Russell
- Piastri
- Norris
- Leclerc
- Hamilton
- Lindblad
- Verstappen
- Alonso
- Hadjar
18:25
Gasly is the latest driver to lock up and take a trip across the grass, but Antonelli and Russell are both pushing the limits ever more, getting closer and closer to the barriers.
18:20
A real near-miss there for Norris at the Turn 3-4 chicane, as he locks the rears and takes a trip across the grass. He's up to P7 now, but it's all been a little bit messy for the McLaren driver.
18:17
Perez and Alonso are banking some soft tyre running while most are continuing on the hard options for now.
Verstappen reports that his steering has suddenly got a lot heavier. Maybe that will feel more like a GT car, who knows?
18:15
There looks to be some concern in the Aston Martin garage, with mechanics getting underneath Stroll's car.
18:14
The session will now be extended by a further 15 minutes as a result of the latest delay. If you're struggling to keep up, we're back up to 35 minutes on the clock.
18:13
Green flag...again
Third time lucky, anyone?
18:12
Pit scramble
The session will resume in two minutes, at 13:13 local time, 18:13BST. The field scrambles out of the garages to queue at the end of the pit lane.
18:11
Still no word on when the session will resume, although the track has been declared "clear" in the sector.
18:04
As we did in the previous red flag, let's run down the top 10.
- Piastri
- Hamilton
- Russell
- Antonelli
- Verstappen
- Hadjar
- Leclerc
- Norris
- Albon
- Sainz
18:02
As we said before, this is a sad but not uncommon occurrence in Montreal.
Groundhog Day: Why Montreal’s resident rodents are a hazard at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix
Groundhogs make regular appearances at the Canadian Grand Prix
18:01
Confirmation of the latest edition of Groundhog Day in Montreal. Albon and Williams have paid a heavy price for that one.
18:00
Early rumours are that Albon's crash came as he attempted to avoid some local wildlife. We said the Groundhogs get involved fairly often here!
17:58
Red flag
A huge smash for Albon on the exit of Turn Seven. The left-hand side of his Williams has been destroyed in that one.
17:56
Ocon is less than pleased with his Haas, reporting that it feels like his car is smashing the ground constantly. As per his words, the feel is "awful".
17:56
But now it's a Mercedes 1-2. Using hard tyres, Russell leads the way by 0.337s with a 1m15.414s effort.
17:53
Here we go, Russell moves to the top...but wait, Piastri instantly displaces him with a 1m15.806s.