17:22
Norris drops a second back on Russell, and Antonelli is now all over the McLaren driver's gearbox.
Start of the Canadian GP sprint race
LIVE
F1 Canada LIVE: Russell leads as sprint race underway in Montreal
Live coverage of Saturday at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Russell starts from pole for the Canada sprint
- Hamilton in fifth after strong qualifying
- Williams to use sprint as a test after Albon repairs
The racing action gets underway at the Canadian Grand Prix with the sprint race.
George Russell will start from pole position, leading a Mercedes one-two, after a major upgrade package appeared to have increased the Silver Arrow's advantage at the front of the pack.
Behind, McLaren and Ferrari have been locked in battle, with Lewis Hamilton leading the way through to SQ3, when he dropped behind Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Alex Albon was the major casualty of practice, with the left-hand side of his Williams destroyed after he struck a groundhog and pitched into the concrete wall on the exit of Turn 7. Liam Lawson too suffered early technical problems, and neither took part in sprint qualifying, so start at the back.
Driver futures have been a topic of discussion already, with Haas forced to bat away suggestions that Esteban Ocon was headed for the exit door, and Max Verstappen's future - both in F1 and the Red Bull team - has been a topic of continued speculation.
2026 Canadian Grand Prix Friday schedule
Sprint race: 5:00pm BST - 6:00pm BST
Qualifying: 9pm BST - 10pm BST
23 May 2026
17:21
Throughout everything, Verstappen is in seventh, in a no man's land - three seconds behind P6, and 10s clear of P8.
17:20
For those interested, a very dull Championship play-off final remains at 0-0 with a minute of normal time remaining.
17:19
Setting the fastest lap of the race, Antonelli is slowly closing in on the top two. Can someone pass the popcorn, please? We've run out already!
17:18
Norris is closing and closing on Russell. Will he take the chance and dive if the opportunity presents itself?
17:16
Russell is struggling with front grip due to his tyres still being too cold. Antonelli looks to have a similar problem, with Hamilton now hunting him down as all the grip appears to have disappeared from Mercedes!
17:14
On lap nine, Norris is now chasing down Russell and is sticking within the one-second window. More of this, please!
17:14
No further action against Stroll for that start infringement, as Hadjar is backed into the garage.
17:13
"Kimi, concentrate on the driving please, not on the radio moaning," instructs Wolff. The team boss is having none of it whatsoever.
17:12
Antonelli is appealing for Russell to get a penalty. He reports he was alongside the mirror, which would fit the criteria.
Bono is warning Antonelli to calm down, but he's having none of it.
17:11
Calm down guys! Russell puts Antonelli on the grass on the run to the final chicane, before the two collide again at Turn 1.
Antonelli goes off at Turn 8 as Russell again appears to force him off. Piastri drops behind Norris into third.
17:10
"Engine problem. Oh s***," reports Hadjar. Sprint over for the Frenchman.
17:09
This Mercedes upgrade has catapulted them into a different postcode to the rest. On lap 5, the pair are over three seconds clear of the rest. This is proper dominance.
17:07
We're already on lap 3, and Antonelli is beginning to eye up his team-mate. For the moment, he's happy to sit behind and save energy.
17:06
Stroll is now under investigation for a starting procedure infringement. It could be that the team continued to work on the car beyond the prescribed limit.
17:05
Hulkenberg got involved in with Colapinto at Turn 8 on the original lap, and cut across the grass. All continue though.
17:05
Ocon climbs past Perez, and Alonso is now all over the back of the Cadillac. Stroll is also on the track.
17:04
The two Mercedes aimed straight at each other, but they survive in the original order. Hamilton passes Piastri to climb to fourth.
17:03
We are racing!
The five lights go out, and we are racing in Montreal!
17:01
Lindblad in P9 is starting on the hard, with Perez, Stroll and Bottas on softs. The rest are all on mediums.
16:59
Stroll's Aston Martin has been wheeled back into the pits from P17. He will likely try to get out for the start, but any hope of points, which was already a lofty target, are gone now.
16:55
Five minutes until lights out. Time to play that music, grab some popcorn, and get ready for some racing action.
16:54
If there are any Hull or Middlesbrough fans watching, it's still 0-0 in the Championship play-off final.
16:53
A lot of attention to the front of Stroll's Aston Martin around the front right suspension. It's the bottom wishbone, and they're trying to complete the fix on the grid. This will be incredibly tight on timing, and it's likely that he will need to start from the pits.
16:48
By their nature, with points only down to eighth place, the action in a sprint race is quite often limited to the first few laps.
However, Canada carries a significant risk of a safety car interruption, so a lap one incident may not carry as heavy a penalty as in 99% of other races.