17:04
The two Mercedes aimed straight at each other, but they survive in the original order. Hamilton passes Piastri to climb to fourth.
Start of the Canadian GP sprint race
LIVE
F1 Canada LIVE: Russell wins sprint race as tensions rise at Mercedes
Live coverage of Saturday at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Russell wins after a tense battle with Antonelli
- Antonelli subdued by Wolff in heated radio exchange
- Qualifying to follow at 9pm BST
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
17:03
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.
16:39
20 minutes before lights out, and the grid is a very busy place to be.
16:38
16:32
The light goes green at the end of the pit lane, and drivers begin to make their way to the grid. 23 laps will make up the sprint, with a race time expected of around 30 minutes.
16:31
Canadian sprint grid
| 2026 F1 Canadian Grand Prix - Sprint Grid | |||
| Pos | Driver | Nat. | Team |
| 1 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team |
| 2 | Kimi Antonelli | ITA | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team |
| 3 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren Mastercard F1 Team |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | McLaren Mastercard F1 Team |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Scuderia Ferrari HP |
| 6 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari HP |
| 7 | Max Verstappen | NED | Oracle Red Bull Racing |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | FRA | Oracle Red Bull Racing |
| 9 | Arvid Lindblad | GBR | Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Atlassian Williams F1 Team |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | GER | Audi Revolut F1 Team |
| 12 | Gabriel Bortoleto | BRA | Audi Revolut F1 Team |
| 13 | Franco Colapinto | ARG | BWT Alpine F1 Team |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | TGR Haas F1 Team |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team |
| 16 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Cadillac F1 Team |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Cadillac F1 Team |
| 19 | Liam Lawson | NZL | Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team |
| 20 | Alex Albon | THA | Atlassian Williams F1 Team |
| 21 | Ollie Bearman | GBR | TGR Haas F1 Team |
| 22 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | BWT Alpine F1 Team |
16:28
Albon, Bearman, Gasly and Lawson will start from the pits today, with both Albon and Lawson failing to take part in sprint qualifying after suffering crash damage and reliability problems respectively.
16:26
Hello!
Good afternoon and welcome to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix. We get things underway today in half an hour, with the sprint race.