mercedes has returned, although perhaps that is not new given what has been seen in the Formula 1 of 2026. The team of silver arrows has monopolized almost everything at the beginning of the new year (except the sprint of Miami) and the Canadian Grand Prix It is beginning to look like a new blow to the staff thanks to some important improvements and the intonation of its drivers. But they needed it. There are no ghosts. At the Gilles Villeneuve, George Russell (1:12,965) He achieved pole position in the sprint race (6:00 p.m., DAZN F1) and will attack the leader Kimi AntonelliSecond, to cut back on the battle for World Championship. The W17 stood out in a session that left a bittersweet taste for the parish Spanish.
Because Carlos Sainz He signed his best classification of the course, will start 10th and is ready to score points if the sprint opens opportunities like the ones everyone expects. But Fernando Alonso He will do it 16th after not seeing his magnificent SQ1 rewarded. He wanted to take the risk, but he lived cross of Canada after hitting a wall.
Those are the risks that are intrinsic to F1. and in Canada, Fernando Alonso He lived both sides of the coin. That of finally seeing oneself as competitive with a Aston Martin who woke up after several runs of torpor. He fought for the pass to SQ2, linked several good laps with the improved track and everything went wrong in turn 3 of one of his last attempts. He tried to go as fast as possible, but a wheel lock on the front axle sent him straight into the wall. It wasn’t even enough for him to reach the escape. “Sorry, I blocked,” he admitted. It was his best moment of 2026 along with the start of Australia, he showed speed and will start 16th.
Sorry, I blocked
Mercedes puts the direct
Alonsohas always made it clear, will lose positions in the race and the battle is reserved for other names. Above all are the Mercedes, with some improvements that are. They have up to three tenths of margin and saw a Russell released. He left behind the doubts of the only free one and plugged in with a metronome lap by lap. “I feel great, I knew what I can do here because there is a lot of grip and it’s like driving a real F1,” he stressed. Nor did it need a third sector, of pure energy, too strong.
Russell breaks his car.
All told, the enemy will come from your own home. Antonelliwhich perhaps lost the strength of other important sessions, did not appear until its last attempt, although it also made use of these innovations in a car that is clearly superior. They have something else. Of course, in the race the test will come from turning on the traffic lights where they have suffered race by race.
And if they fail… there are more names. McLarensuddenly. Because the Woking team was not as alive as in Miami, but they fixed their Friday in the last lap. Norris is third, Piastri fourth and left hamiltonvery plugged in, without a prize after playing it round by round. The seven-time champion believed he could take pole, but he couldn’t hold on to the momentum shown in the first sector. Even so, his cannon at the start keeps him there. as to Leclercjust behind and better than a Verstappen something off with a car that is not as loud as in Miami.
For Carlos Sainz the battle is different. But it is also positive, since it involves looking for points, since he put the Williams for the first time in the last cut and its most hardworking version came out… and fast. Already in SQ2 he fought against the improvement of the Audis with a brutal last lap that provided a great strategy from his wall to leave him the last driver on the track. He did not fail and left behind the times of Hulkenberg and Bortoleto.
Sainz, in action in the sprint classification.
In SQ3 he was able to put up a fight, but one of his laps was cancelled. He did not go beyond tenth place and will be able to battle a Arvid Lindblad which has recovered the level of Melbourne. He is a leader of a middle zone where there was variety, Alonso believed… and fell. They had even worse luck Alex Albon -collision with the groundhog- and Liam Lawson -hydraulic leak-. Nor did they go to the sprint classification after their incidents in the only free practice session and will close the grid for an event (6:00 p.m.) that will once again move the World.
This is how the Canadian GP sprint grid looks
This is how the Canadian sprint grid looks.